July 27, 2005

Liverpool has won the right to host the 2008 World Firefighters Games, with Chief Fire Officer Tony McGuirk leading the bid. Tony's brother Steve was the CFO of the 2004 World Firefighters Games in Sheffield.

Liverpool is expecting to spend about £2.3 million for the games, and is expecting a strong economic return for the event, planned for the first week of September 2008.

Initial funding will be from private and public sponsorship. Sport England has said they would like to assist in getting the games going.

One early proposal is to bring cruise ships to the Liverpool harbor to serve as an "Olympic Village."

The World Firefighters Games organizing body disclosed that bids were also received from Belfast and Dubai.

Liverpool up for 2008 World Firefighters games?

May 31, 2005

Liverpool Daily Post newspaper is reporting that Liverpool is in the final running for the 2008 World Firefighters Games.

The bid process is kept secret. The bid teams is not sure who their competition is for the games. (The Daily Post floated unconfirmed rumors that Prague might be in the running)

World Firefighters Games committee members will travel to Liverpool next month to evaluate the city as a possible host for the games.

Liverpool bid after Sheffield hosted the 2004 games. The Chief Fire Officer for Merseyside (Liverpool) Tony McGuirk is the twin brother of Steve McGuirk, the CFO of the Sheffield games.

B of the Bang unveiled by Linford Christie

January 12, 2005

The sculpture, "B of the Bang" inspired by the comments of Linford Christie was unveiled by Linford Christie in Manchester today.

Christie was fond of saying that he was so fast out of the blocks that he started on the "B of the Bang."

The sculpture is 184 feet (56 meters) tall, and stands next to the City of Manchester stadium, site of the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

More drug and classification issues at Athens Paralympics

September 24, 2004

Cuban Judoka Sergio Arturo Perez Hechevarria has tested positive for prednisolone, and will be disqualified and lose his gold medal. No other suspension or sanction will be handed out in this case, according to organizers. In addition, International Judo Federation rules specify that medals are not to be redistributed in doping cases such as this, in the sport of Judo.

A classification tiff over the status of a young Australian wheelchair rugby player has been reported in the New Zealand Herald.

15 year old Ryley Batt was reclassified upon arrival in Athens. He now carries a rugby classification number of 3.5 the highest number, and designation of least disabled. In wheelchair rugby, four players are allowed on the court at one time, and the total of their classification numbers can not exceed 8.

Ryley's mother told the Herald, "I am shocked. I don't know what they are doing over there." "He has been very unfairly reclassified. He is very upset about it, we all are."

International Paralympic Committee officials will watch the matches that Ryley participates in, and may determine by his performance, to reclassify him once again, back to his original 2.5 classification. If he is not reclassified, the Australian Paralympic Committee has said they will file a protest.

Australian rugby officials said that there had been a protest made by another team, to try and weaken Australia's chances, and pointed an accusing finger at New Zealand. "Ryley is our strongest player and he looks so good on the court. Obviously another team isn't keen on him playing." (if he is the strongest player, would a 3.5 not be warranted? Ed.) New Zealand officials said they didn't have any idea that Australia was talking about and had not lodged any protest.

In another dispute over the classification of a paralympic athlete, Great Britain's Jenny Ridley has decided not to compete after she was reclassified from the T53 to T52 division. A protest by the British Paralympic association was put forward and heard on September 14 and 15, and was appealed after a decision was made to keep Ridley in the T53 class. The appeal was also denied. Ridley was a former wheelchair basketball player, hoping to participate in the 200 and 400 meter events.

Ridley told the BBC and Scottish news sources, " I am entered into the T53 category races and I haven't made the decision whether I will compete," "But for me to go and compete against them, I will come last and it's something I don't want to do."

Other athletes were just happy to participate. Afghanistan's 14 year-old Mareena Karim finished last in her heat of the 100 meters, but made history as the first female Afghani to participate in the Paralympic Games. "It's a golden chance. Just my participating is a victory," she told the media through a translator.

An Iranian discus thrower also lost a gold medal over classification issues, earlier in the games.

September 22, 2004

Mixed in with the unfortunate news of two horses dying at or just after the Olympic Games was this lighter anecdote.

British three-day eventer Pippa Funnell had to be called by her full name "Phillippa Funnell" while at the games in Athens.

The name Phillipa was perfectly appropriate for the equestrian events as in Greek it means "horse lover."

The reason for the change? The word Pippa in Greek evidently carries with it negative sexual connotations that would not have been appropriate for Greek broadcasters or stadium announcers to say.

England Hockey wants hockey players for 2005 Maccabiah Games

September 14, 2004

England Hockey (the field version) has put out a call for all Jewish field hockey players to try out for the 2005 Maccabiah Games team.

See http://www.englandhockey.co.uk for details or contact Steven Sieff at ssi@cmck.com.

In the announcement the claim was made that the Maccabiah Games are the "3rd largest sporting event in the world" (which is odd, nearly every other games claims to be the "second largest" in relation to the Olympic Games.)

For the record, the African Games, Asian Games, Hapoel Games, International Law Enforcement Games, North American Indigenous Games, Pan-American Games, Special Olympics World Summer Games, Tailteann Games, World Masters Games, World Police and Fire Games, World University Games and several masters games have all had more participants than the largest Maccabiah Games,

The African Games, Commonwealth Games, European Special Olympics, Goodwill Games, Military World Games, Paralympic Games, Special Olympics World Summer Games, Special Olympics World Winter Games, World Air Games, World Games, World Games for the Deaf (or Deaflympics), World Masters Games, World Nature Games, World Scholar Athlete Games, World Transplant Games, World University Games and World Youth Games have all had more nations represented than the largest Maccabiah Games, besides the Olympic Games and whatever England Hockey considers to be the second largest games.

September 1, 2004

Sheffield, England has welcomed about 4,000 firefighters from 40 nations for the 8th World Firefighters Games. The games opened August 28th and run to September 4.

The games opened with a parade of fire engines, a pipe band and 2,500 participants from Sheffield's Devonshire Green to the Peace Gardens, site of the official opening ceremony, where they were welcomed by Lord Mayor Mike Pye. Part of the ceremony included a minute's silence to remember firefighters who have died in the line of duty.

The Sheffield Cathedral also held a special service to mark the beginning of the games. A prayer, written by Father Mychal Judge, a firefighter's chaplain killed in the World Trade Center attack was read at the ceremony.

The World Firefighters Games began in 1990 and have been held every two years since that time in Auckland, Las Vegas, Perth, Edmonton, Durban, Mantes-en-Yvelines, Christchurch and Sheffield The next Firefighters World Games are scheduled for 2006 in Hong Kong.

The Children's Fire and Burns Trust, The British Burns Association and the Fire Service's National Benevolent Fund are all charities benefiting from this year's games.

July 10, 2004

Kentucky has announced that it will try again to earn the right to host the World Equestrian Games. Kentucky lost out to Aachen, Germany for the 2006 Games.

Declarations of intent to bid are due July 15, with final bids due October 15, 2004. Other bids are expected from Normandy, France; Melbourne, Australia; and the United Arab Emirates.

Spruce Meadows, on the outskirts of  Calgary, Canada, and England have both abandoned bids for this edition of the games, Canada in November of last year, citing the awarding of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games to Vancouver as a conflict, and England earlier this month citing lack of resources and the need to focus on other commitments.

June 24, 2004

World Firefighters Games organizers in Sheffield, England are still seeking volunteers for the games. 

The dates of the games are August 28-September 4, 2004.  

The games web site however,  http://www.wffg.co.uk to date does not have any information for volunteers, or how to register to be a volunteer. 

For information on volunteering send email to enquiries@worldfirefightersgames.co.uk  

Volunteers are still needed for all aspects of the operation, from transportation to translation, media services and hospitality.

All proceeds from the games will go to the Children's Fire and Burn Trust, the British Burn Association and the Fire Services National Benevolent Fund.

June 13, 2004

B of the Bang, the commemorative sculpture of the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth games has been trucked from Sheffield to Manchester and is now on site where it will be installed.

The sculpture will now be put together and finished, which should take the rest of the summer.

B of the Bang to commemorate 2002 Commonwealth Games

May 14, 2004

'I'll be gone by the B of the Bang," was what  Linford Christie, Great Britain's most recent 100m Olympic champion was fond of saying about his quick, explosive starts.  

This summer, the city of Manchester will get their very own, 56 meter (184 feet) tall, 150 ton visual representation of Linford's words, in the form of a sculpture, called B of the Bang, commemorating the Manchester Commonwealth Games.  The sculpture will be the tallest in the UK.

Sculptor Thomas Heatherwick won an international contest with his massive starburst design, 180 spikes radiating from a central core, illustrating the explosion of the starters pistol and the energy of the athletes. 

The commission was announced on January 23, 2003, less than six months after the games were finished.  The sculptor and builders established a very aggressive schedule, expecting the sculpture to me installed by August of 2003. 

In March of 2003, it was announced that the cost of the sculpture would be some 1.4 million pounds, nearly double the original estimate of 750,000 pounds.  The original estimate was for the sculpture alone, with the second amount taking into account the mounting and installation of the sculpture. 

Discussions of how the work would be funded slowed the project, and issues over funding reappeared in November 2003 when some controversy ensued over some 120,000 pounds that the city of Manchester was giving to support the project.

Work has continued and the sculpture is scheduled to travel by large trucks in June to the installation site.

AK Heavy Engineering in Sheffield completed the fabrication and machining of the steel. The company has worked on projects such as the machines for boring the Chunnel and the base and roof of the new Wembley Stadium.

The steel in the sculpture contains some copper, which is designed to weather resist corrosion but eventually develop a purple orange patina.

B of the Bang will be located on the corner of Alan Turing Way and Ashton New Road, next to the city of Manchester Stadium.

Thomas Heatherwick said when he won the commission "I am honored that my design has been chosen to become part of the Manchester’s rich architecture and urban landscape. Manchester’s regeneration and the astounding success of the Commonwealth Games are testimony to the determination of all involved. I hope my design conveys some of the energy which drives Manchester forward and was also exhibited by every individual athlete during the Games."

See the B of the Bang web site.

For a discussion of the engineering and fabrication of the structure see Professional Engineering Publication's article, "A star is born."

Commonwealth Games finalist Haughian killed in car accident

May 1, 2004

Sam Haughian, just twenty-four years old, and one of Great Britain's young distance running stars was killed in a car accident in South Africa April 23rd. Haughian was in South Africa for a high altitude training camp, and was with his girlfriend, returning from a visit to relatives in South Africa when the accident occurred.

Haughian was an accomplished cross country runner, running in European and World Championship competitions, for the past several years.

Haughian improved dramatically in 2002 running 13:19.45 for fifth place in the Commonwealth Games 5000 meters in Manchester.

April 28, 2004

Marketing Manchester, the organization in Manchester responsible for promoting the city throughout the world, reported today that the Commonwealth Games had a positive financial impact on the city of about £2 billion pounds.

Marketing Manchester reported that some 84.4 million visitors came to the greater Manchester region in 2002, and that most came from America. Employment in the tourism sector rose 10 percent.

Marketing Manchester might want to look more closely into the reasons for the increase, if most of the traffic was American, given that the vast majority of Americans don't know that the Commonwealth Games exist.

It was reported in October 2002 that the games returned a small surplus of 13 million pounds, of which

2 million pounds was returned to the federal government, 3 million pounds to the Manchester City Council and 4 million pounds to Sport England.

December 5, 2003

Sheffield, England is preparing to welcome firefighters from all over the world next summer for the 8th edition of the Firefighters World Games, and is calling for volunteers to help with the games. (For information go to www.worldfirefightersgames.co.uk

The Games have been held every other year since 1990 with the first games held in Auckland, New Zealand. The games then traveled to Las Vegas, Perth, Edmonton, Durban, Mantes-en-Yvelines, France, Christchurch and now Sheffield.

It will be the largest games held in Sheffield since the 1991 World University Games. About 4,000 firefighters from 40 nations are expected to compete in the games

The games are scheduled to open on August 28th with a parade through the center of Sheffield and run until September 4th.

Manchester will get its athletics stadium

July 28, 2003

After much discussion last year, but not much publicity this year, it seems that Manchester will get an athletics stadium after all, though much smaller for economic reasons than the venue used during the games.

The warmup track used for the games is currently being converted into a small 6,000 seat stadium. The seats will circle the entire track and create an intimate environment to track enthusiasts in Manchester, and be a fitting legacy for athletics from the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Hometown Commonwealth sprinter Darren Clark has said, "Everyone was disappointed the track had to be taken away from the City of Manchester Stadium last summer. "But it needed to be done because the stadium could not support just a few athletic meetings a year. "I hope this new arena can recreate some of the magic of the Commonwealth Games and I am sure athletics fans in Manchester and the north west will turn out in force once again to offer their support."

Manchester looks back at one-year Commonwealth Anniversary

July 24, 2003

The Manchester Evening News paper in Manchester is marking the one-year anniversary of the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games (July 25, 2002) with a series of articles looking back at the legacy left behind by the games.

The articles examines if the games in fact led to a growth in job opportunities and investment, helped to increase tourism, and if the games have helped Manchester with urban renewal.

In terms of the legacy of venues, much was made after the games over the removal of the track from the main stadium, now known as City of Manchester Stadium, but less was communicated about the warm-up track for the games being converted (still in the future) into a 6,000 seat track and field facility. Sportcity, which includes an Indoor Athletics Arena, the National Squash Centre and the Manchester Indoor Tennis Centre, has reportedly been in steady use by youth and athletes of all ages over the past year, as has the new Aquatics Centre left over from the games.

Tourism has been boosted with several conferences visiting the city. The games have raised the visibility of Manchester internationally and this has been credited with making it easier to land conferences and other events, including sporting events.

The reports gave glowing marks to the improvements made in transportation around the city and praised the volunteers that helped with the games and the volunteer spirit that has carried over from the games to other projects.

New and continuing plans are in place to add housing which will benefit some and not others. Those with houses around the new Sportcity complex have seen their home values rise quickly in the past three years. But, with that growth, others may be priced out. Despite the new sports venues, Manchester still has several run-down areas in close proximity to several high priced neighborhoods.

Despite many positives, In England, Manchester still ranks near the bottom in education, health, employment and crime rate.

Overall, however, the citizens of Manchester are pleased with the changes that the games brought to their city, and the future changes still in the works. A poll in the paper was running 3 to 1 to the positive on the question (yes or no) "Do you think the Commonwealth Games has left lasting benefits for the area?"

An article in Manchester's Guardian newspaper claimed that the Commonwealth Games added about 22 million pounds to the city's coffers, and 6,300 jobs, according to the city council. The council expects a tourism increase of 300,000 visitors a year, and 18 million pounds.

The games budget, (according the the Manchester Evening News) totaled £330m

£165m, came from Sport England, £72m from the Manchester City Council, £37m from the federal government, £56m from corporate sponsorship and television.

Tragedy hits World Transplant Games

July 24, 2003

The local organizing committee of the World Transplant Games in Nancy, France has announced the death of an athlete during competition at the games. The death is the first ever in the games which began in 1978 and have been held annually since 1980.

Alan Ayre, of Great Britain, was competing in the games badminton tournament when he suffered a heart attack and could not be revived.

Ayre was the badminton champion of the last World Transplant Games in Kobe, Japan, and had also been a participant in the games in 1995 in Manchester, England, and 1997 in Sydney, Australia.

Ayre had recovered from a kidney transplant, and had passed the games physical at the beginning of competition.

The mayor of Nancy, Andre Rossinot, sent a message of condolence to the British team and to the family.

Organizers decided to continue the games without postponement stating, "by carrying on the competitions, the values of generosity, of sharing, of the surpassing of oneself, expressed and lived by all since the beginning of the games, will be the best homage that can be given to him."

Chris Brasher, 1956 Olympic Steeplechase champion dies

March 1, 2003

Chris Brasher, known for helping to pace his compatriot Roger Bannister to histories first ever sub four-minute mile, but was also a champion in his own right.  Brasher won the World Student Games 5000 meters in 1951, finishing second in the 1500 meters that same games.  As a specialist in the steeplechase, he did not compete in that event at the Commonwealth Games as the games did not hold a steeplechase from 1938 through 1958.

Brasher did however win the steeplechase at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.

After his running career Brasher stayed active with writing, television, orienteering, and became a millionaire after founding a hiking shoe business under his name, and was also the founder of the London marathon.

Brasher was also very involved in preserving the wilderness that he loved in Great Britain, co-founding the John Muir Trust in 1983 and founding the Chris Brasher Trust in 1988, both dedicated to wilderness preservation. 

Brasher died on Feb. 28, 2003 at the age of 74.

British Paralympic Association supports London 2012 Bid

December, 2002

The British Paralympic Association, hoping that an Olympic bid from London would help raise the profile, funding and competitive opportunities for Paralympic athletes in Britain, has voted to give full support to a 2012 London bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Phil Lane, the Chief Executive of the British Paralympic Association stated, "London is not the most accessible of cities and the Games would leave a legacy of accessible transport and facilities not just for disabled sportsmen and women but for people with a disability in general. A London bid would also be a significant opportunity for Paralympic sports to gain the stability they deserve."

Commonwealth Games Track parceled out

December, 2002

UK Athletics have now chosen four locations for the Manchester Commonwealth Games track to end up.

The National Indoor Arena in Birmingham was named this past summer as the prime location. The 2003 World Indoor Championships in Athletics are scheduled to be held in Birmingham in March.

Three other locations have now been named: Harvey Hadden Leisure Centre in Nottingham, the Thorns Park Athletics Stadium in Wakefield and the North East Pole Vault Academy in Gateshead.

Some portions of the athletics community in Great Britain had been vociferous in their protests that the track should remain in the stadium where the games were held.

Agreements set up prior to the games prevented that option and the Stadium was converted to a football facility for the Manchester City team.

Commonwealth Medals Tables Revised

August 22, 2002

The final Manchester Commonwealth Medals table will be revised based on the outcome of the drug test results of Indian weightlifter Satheesha Rai.

Rai has been told to return two gold medals and one bronze after failing a drug test for strychnine at the games.

The results for the 77 kilogram division now read:

 

Overall
Gold	Dave Morgan	Wales
Silver	Renos Doweiya	Nauru
Bronze	Scott McCarthy	Canada
DQ Satheesha Rai (Gold)
Clean and Jerk
Gold	Dave Morgan	Wales
Silver	Renos Doweiya	Nauru
Bronze	Scott McCarthy	Canada
DQ Satheesha Rai (Gold)
Snatch
Gold (unchanged)	Damien Brown	Australia
Silver (unchanged)	Dave Morgan	Wales
Bronze	Craig Blythman	Australia
DQ Satheesha Rai (Bronze)

The suspensions mean that a total of seven medals will change hands. Wales gold medal total will go up by two, silver down by two. Nauru's silver medal total will rise by two, bronze medal total go down by two. Canada's bronze total will go up by two and Australia's bronze medals go up by one. India's gold medal numbers will drop by two and bronze medals by one.

Krishnan Madasamy, another Indian weightlifter, was stripped of three silver medals after testing positive for nandrolone. (Those medals had already been accounted for in the medals table.)

India's original total of 32 golds now go to 30, dropping India from third to fourth in the final medal count. The third place finish had been India's best ever Commonwealth Games medal finish.

The updated Commonwealth Games Medals table

as of August 22, 2002

Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Australia	82	62	63	207
England	54	51	60	165
Canada	31	41	44	116
India	30	21	18	69
New Zealand	11	13	21	45
South Africa	9	20	17	46
Cameroon	9	1	2	12
Malaysia	7	19	18	34
Wales	6	13	12	31
Scotland	6	8	16	30
Nigeria	5	4	11	20
Jamaica	4	6	7	17
Kenya	4	8	4	16
Singapore	4	2	7	13
Bahamas	4	0	4	8
Nauru	2	5	8	15
N. Ireland	2	2	1	5
Cyprus	2	2	1	5
Pakistan	1	3	3	7
Namibia	1	0	4	5
Fiji	1	1	1	3
Zambia	1	1	1	3
Zimbabwe	1	1	0	2
Tanzania	1	0	1	2
Bangladesh	1	0	0	1
Guyana	1	0	0	1
Mozambique	1	0	0	1
St. Kitts / Nevis	1	0	0	1
Botswana	0	2	1	3
Samoa	0	1	2	3
Uganda	0	2	0	2
Trinidad and Tobago	0	1	1	2
Barbados	0	0	1	1
Cayman Islands	0	0	1	1
Ghana	0	0	1	1
St. Lucia	0	0	1	1
Lesotho	0	0	1	1
Malta	0	0	1	1
Mauritius	0	0	1	1

Commonwealth Games wrap up

August 6, 2002

In somewhat typical fashion for large multisport gatherings, the Commonwealth Games have had their triumphant highs and embarrassing lows.

Among the highs; Kim Collins stunned the two British favorites to win the first ever Commonwealth Gold Medal for St. Kitts and Nevis.

India surprised everyone by finishing (so far) in the third spot on the medals table. A few drug tests need to be verified, and if one turns up positive, India could lose three medals and fall back to fourth behind Canada.   But otherwise, a stunning performance for India. India's best overall medal performance was 5th in 1990 and 6th on five other occasions. The team is very hopeful going into the Asian Games.

The Kenyans defeating powerhouse Samoa in rugby. 

Ian Thorpe winning six gold and one silver medals in swimming to become the winningest athlete in Commonwealth Games history.

Mike East of England, redeeming the men's distance runner from Britain with a win in the 1500 meters.

Paula Radcliffe, crushing the field in the women's 5000.

England's women 800 meter runners, not medalling, but it was the first time in history that three British women had broken 2:00 minutes in the same race.

The Australian women winning the 4x400 meter relay with Cathy Freeman contributing.  One wonders if Freeman, who first competed on the 4x400 team for Australia in 1990 will continue on for another four years an compete in Melbourne at the Commonwealth Games in 2006.

Manchester was praised for its organization and for raising British stock in chances for bids on future games, with a possible 2012 Olympics for London.

As in any large international games there were lows however. There were questions of drug use in rugby, shooting and track and field, and squabbles over officiating in boxing, field hockey, swimming and table-tennis. 

In boxing, David Agong, a judge from Uganda was first suspended and then reinstated for making "political decisions" during a first-round bout.

Anwar Chowdhry, president of the Amateur International Boxing Association, met officials personally to tell them that he was unhappy with the level of judging in the games.

Agong was banned indefinitely by the Pakistani Chowdhry for his scoring in a light-middleweight between boxers from Scotland and Pakistan.

Agong was suspended even though his decision matched three of the other four judges. 

Agong had threatened to pursue legal action, claiming his reputation had been soiled, if Chowdhry did not apologize. "I do not know what he means by political decisions. Uganda has no problems with Pakistan and I've never been to Scotland. Dr Chowdhry owes me an apology."  

A day later Agong said he had spoken to Dr. Chowdhry who told him he could judge again. Agong said " my reputation is intact again."

Chowdry also suspended another boxing judge, Stephen Antwi, for two days. Later, Ghanians were upset after judges decided against their boxer in a match against a Scottish boxer.  

In the table tennis arena, during the men's doubles quarterfinal between Ryan Jenkins and Adam Robertson of Wales and Johnny Huang and Pradeebani Peter-Paul of Canada, Huang stormed off the floor after disputing a wide serve. The umpire disagreed and the match was forfeited to the Welsh team.

"There was a lot of name-calling and swearing, which was totally unnecessary," said Roberton's father and coach, Barry. "There are a lot of points which go against you in table tennis, you just have to get on with it. But he (Huang) is renowned as a bit of a hothead anyway."

Several participants were told to stay home after failing pre-games drug tests, but the most high-profile case was that of Kim Collins, gold-medallist in the 100 meter dash on the track.

Collin's sample contained amounts of Salbutamol, and asthma medication, that was deemed to be therapeutic. Collins was allowed to keep the medal, though his delegation had technically broken the rules by not filing the required paperwork for substances for medical purposes.  

One Australian swimmer. Jenny Reilly was at first disqualified, then re-instated, for an illegal turn. Another Aussie swimmer, Matt Welsh, was disqualified for a false start, but intimated that he home-country officials may have been unfairly biased against him.  Welsh argued that he was certain that he had not false started in the race.

In the Women's field hockey final between India and England more protests were lodged over a dispute whether India's final goal, in overtime, had crossed the line before time had run out.

The goal was not allowed at first, then India protested, and the technical official for the game ruled that the goal would be allowed.

England then filed a protest, but after reviewing the rules and videotape officials let the goal stand.

The Indian team took a victory lap around the field, with the home fans jeering disapprovingly.

The English team then issued a statement through their chief media officer, "In the spirit of the 'Friendly Games' we have decided to accept the situation."

Manchester played host to a wonderful games. The next games are less than four years away, currently scheduled for March 15-26, 2006 in Melbourne, Australia.

2012 London Manchester bid will not happen 

Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge, expressing his satisfaction with a well-run Commonwealth Games also said that it is essential for all Olympic venues to be near one another for the benefit of spectators, ruling out a possible two-city London-Manchester bid for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Officials in Manchester still think the city could host Olympic football (soccer) matches if London hosted the games.

One British Olympic Association spokesperson mentioned "Sydney and Athens set the precedent that the Olympic football tournament is played in four cities around the country."

The idea pre-dates Barcelona by at least eight years.  The Los Angeles Olympic soccer tournament, was held in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, just outside Los Angeles, Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, near San Francisco, The Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland and Harvard Stadium in Boston.

Commonwealth Field Hockey Fans demand refunds

Fans of Commonwealth field hockey have demanded refunds in protest of India being left out of the tournament.

Only one team from each region, and the hosts, England, and the defending champions, Australia, were allowed to qualify. 

Pakistan won the berth from Asia, leaving India at home, though both teams are generally at the very top of the world rankings each year. Both Canada's men and women's teams qualified - Canada is the only Commonwealth country from the region of the Americas.

One Manchester fan of the Indian side said "whoever made these rules is an idiot," Fans felt deprived of not being able to see in person a possible match between India and Pakistan.

Games organizers defended the move. "Where else will Wales or Barbados get a chance to play against Pakistan or Australia.  "These are, after all, the friendship Games."

On the women's side pre-games reports picked Australia the reigning Olympic, World and Commonwealth champions as the overwhelming favorite. 

Australia however lost their semifinal match to England, and ended up beating New Zealand for the bronze medal match. 

India met England in the final and won 3-2 on a controversial goal that went into the net just as time was expiring in the first overtime period.

With the ebb and flow of national fortunes in track and field, the British women's 800 meter stock rose just a bit at the Commonwealth Game, while the men continued to stagger.

Three British women ran under two minutes for the 800 meters, in the Commonwealth Games final, the first time ever that three British women had accomplished the feat in the same race.

The trio finished just out of the medals: fourth place went to Scotland's Susan Scott in 1:59.30, Charlotte Moore, a 17-year-old was sixth in 1:59.75 and Jo Fenn seventh in 1:59.86. The times would rank the three around 6th, 8th and 11th on the all-time British 800 meter list for women.

And the British men? This time, not a single Brit made the final, an event in which Steve Cram still holds the games record in 1:43.22 from 1986. 

England's two runners, Neil Speaight and Joel Kidger ran 1:47.22 and 1:48.12 respectively in their semifinal races. Kidger's time was his all-time best.

On the all-time world list, Sebastian Coe still ranks #2 in the with his 1:41.73 from 1981, Steve Cram ranks #12, Peter Elliot # 14 and even Steve Ovett's 1:44.09 from 1978, which at the time was the 8th fastest time ever run in the world, still ranks 80th on the all time world list.

For today's British men to roughly equal, based on national all-time rankings, the British women, they would need to have three men run 1:43.98, 1:44.55 and 1:44.65 all in one race.

That would have swept the medals at this years Commonwealth Games. South Africa's Mbulaeni Mulaudzi won the event in 1:46.32. Six of the eight finalists were from Africa.

Paula Radcliffe blazes to 5,000 meter gold

Britain's Paula Radcliffe, a long-time campaigner against drug-use in sport, who runs every race with a red ribbon pinned to her racing vest,  took control early in the 5,000 meters at  the Commonwealth Games and never looked back, winning the gold and finishing three seconds outside the world record. The World Record, that is, if one accepts the times run at the 1997 Chinese National Games.  Without the times from Shanghai, Radcliffe's time would be the second fastest time ever run behind 14:30.88 in 2000.