By Iram Zahra
BEIJING—(October 15, 2010, M4relay)– The 2010 Common Wealth games came to a close Wednesday after about two weeks of sporting activities in New Dehli, India. A colorful musical event to mark the end of the games saw the participation of some great performances by artists from India as well as other countries. Dazzling fireworks lit up the skyline giving an enchanting view. The commonwealth games, 2010 closing ceremony also witnessed cultural shows including dance, folk and modern music, films and puppet shows – exhibiting India’s cultural diversity.
Similar to the opening ceremony, the closing ceremony had a flag parade of countries participating in the 2010 commonwealth games. The event also saw the presence of many Bollywood celebrities and artists who staged a mesmerizing performance. India’s favorite sports song “Chak De”, soulful Sufi and classical tunes and traditional Bagpiper music of Scotland added life to the Jawaharlal Nehruo Stadium during the closing ceremony.
This year’s Commonwealth games were marred by some incidents including the wrestling stadiums false ceiling caving-in – but with no injuries reported. After the start of the games, a large scoreboard at the rugby stadium toppled over. Security concerns were highlighted by an Australian TV crew from the Seven Network who claimed to have walked past security with a suitcase containing a dummy bomb and its detonator on 15 September, although the veracity of the claim has since been challenged. Concerns of a terrorist attack were also raised following a gun attack that took place outside the Jama Masjid on 19th September 2010. However, the Indian authorities stated that the shooting was a “one-off incident.”
In another incident, three Ugandan officials were injured when the car they were travelling in hit a security wheel stopper at the Games village. The chairman of the Games’ Organizing Committee, Suresh Kalmadi, apologized to the Ugandan High Commissioner to India for the freak car accident.
India was hosting the commonwealth games for the first time. The 2006 commonwealth game was hosted by Australia in Melbourne City. The responsibility of supervision of the games lies with Commonwealth Games Federation. The 2010, Commonwealth Games is the nineteenth commonwealth games organized since its inception and the ninth to be held.
Australia is gained the first place in medals like in 2006, wining a total 171 medals. England is on the second position with 139 medals and India is on the third position with 97 medals.
Commonwealth games aim at promoting harmony, equality, unity and co-operation among the commonwealth member nations. The Commonwealth games are organized every four years. The games were first held in 1930 under the name “British Empire Games”. The game was renamed “British Empire and commonwealth Games” in 1954. In 1970, the games were named “British Commonwealth games”. In 1978, the name for the games was changed to “The commonwealth games” and it is retained till date. The city of Glasgow in Scotland will host the 2014 Commonwealth games.