The Miracle Mile is part of Canada's rich Commonwealth Games history

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Canada is sending 270-plus athletes to compete in 18 able-bodied and five Para sports in Birmingham, England. The 22nd edition of the Games kicks off there Thursday with the opening ceremony for the 72 countries and territories involved (watch it live at 3 p.m. ET on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem). The Canadian team is aiming for another top-three finish in total medals after placing third at the previous two Games, in 2018 in Australia and 2014 in Scotland.

Several of Canada's Summer Olympic stars are in Birmingham, including swimmers Maggie Mac Neil, Kylie Masse and 15-year-old phenom Summer McIntosh, who recently won two individual gold medals and a silver at the World Aquatics Championships (McIntosh dropped one of her events today). Also competing in the pool are 19-year-old Josh Liendo, who won a pair of individual bronze and a relay silver at worlds, and five-time Paralympic champion Aurélie Rivard. Penny Oleksiak did not make the trip, and neither did Taylor Ruck, who won a record-tying eight medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Mac Neil, the Olympic champion in the women's 100m butterfly, was initially going to swim only in relays but is now planning to do individual events.

In track and field, Olympic champs Andre De Grasse and Damian Warner are out, along with decathlete Pierce LePage and 800m runner Marco Arop, who both captured medals at the world championships last week. Tokyo Olympic race walk bronze medallist Evan Dunfee will compete in Birmingham, but 5,000m silver medallist Moh Ahmed won't. Aaron Brown and Jerome Blake, who won gold with De