Commonwealth Games set for glitzy launch in Birmingham
Commonwealth Games lacking several track and field stars but still boasting elite performers. Competitors from 72 nations and territories -- many of which are former British colonies -- will be vying for medals in 19 sports over a jam-packed 11 days in the Midlands. Away from the marquee athletics and swimming events, women's Twenty20 cricket makes its debut and 3x3 basketball will feature for the first time while sedate lawn bowls is a fixture. There is an integrated para sports programme in some events. The Games, held every four years, are often criticised as a quirky sporting relic but will be launched in style at Thursday's opening ceremony, headlined by 1980s pop band Duran Duran, formed in Birmingham. Sporting powerhouse Australia have topped the medals table at every Games since 1990 except in 2014, when England finished top in Glasgow -- the last time the event was held on British soil. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland compete as separate teams during the Commonwealths rather than as a combined British outfit. In the pool, Emma McKeon, Ariarne Titmus, Kaylee McKeown and teenage sensation Mollie O'Callaghan will lead the charge for a star-studded Australian team. Double Olympic champion Titmus, 21, opted out of the recent world championships in Budapest to keep herself fresh for Birmingham. "I am so excited and I think we've got a great team going in. It's insane the depth we have," said the Commonwealth Games 400 metres and 800m freestyle champion.
