The Commonwealth Games are back — here's what to know

The 23rd edition of the Commonwealth Games officially opens a week from today in Glasgow, Scotland, where some 3,000 athletes from 74 countries and territories associated with the old British Empire will compete in 10 different sports over the course of 11 days.

Canada is sending a team of 149 athletes and is aiming for another top-three spot in the medal standings after finishing behind Australia and host England at the 2022 Games in Birmingham.

These Games were in danger of cancellation after the Australian state of Victoria bailed on hosting due to escalating costs. But Scotland stepped in with an offer to stage a scaled-down event with far fewer sports — diving, beach volleyball, rugby sevens, wrestling and others were axed — while making use of pre-existing venues in order to keep the budget down.

Swimming and track and field are still the marquee sports. They're joined by gymnastics, 3-on-3 basketball, boxing, weightlifting, track cycling, judo, lawn bowling and netball — the only sport Canada is not involved in.

The Commonwealth Games also remain the only multi-sport event in which Para and able-bodied competitions are held concurrently. Canada is sending 34 Para athletes — its largest number ever.

A few more things to know:

Swimming: Liendo, Masse borrow the spotlight

Unfortunately for Canadian fans, Summer McIntosh is not participating in these Games. The 19-year-old superstar, who broke the long-standing women's 200-metre butterfly world record at the Canadian trials in Montreal last week, will instead compete at next month's Pan Pacific championships in California as she eyes a run at a record-tying five gold medals at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Veteran Taylor Ruck, who won all five of her events at the