Anachronistic anarchy in the UK as Commonwealth superstars prepare to make waves

Four years on from the sun-kissed success of the Gold Coast, the Commonwealth Games prepares to pitch up in Birmingham this month amid a refreshed conviction of its place within the international sporting firmament.

No matter that in the period since the flame was snuffed out over the Carrara Stadium, a number of nations including Barbados and Jamaica have declared their intentions to remove the Queen as their respective head of state.

Crumbling political ties are yet to be reflected in the sporting side an organisation in which the Caribbean nations remain very much front and centre – and which comes to Birmingham very much in a position of renewed strength.

If those 12 glorious days on the Gold Coast taught us anything, it was to celebrate the superstars and also-rans in equal measure, and to champion the Commonwealth Games as an antidote to the corporate gigantism of so many other major sports events.

In that spirit, Birmingham will welcome the likes of Adam Peaty and Dina Asher-Smith alongside Olympic stars such as Jamaican sprint duo Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Elaine Thompson-Hera, who will jet straight over from the World Athletics Championships in Oregon to join the party.

On the other hand, it will play host to lawn bowlers from Norfolk Island, home of some descendants of the Mutiny on the Bounty, and two beach volleyball players from Tuvalu, a Pacific atoll whose entirety could fit within Birmingham’s city limits 10 times.

Stories of tortuous journeys and improbable preparations shape the Commonwealth Games just as much as the lung-bursting, record-breaking exploits of those who fly in first class with Olympic medals already hanging around their necks.

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