5 interesting Commonwealth Games facts

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1. The Queen’s baton relay, an opening tradition of the games, sees the Queen’s baton carried 190,000km, that’s the equivalent of going around the earth almost 4.25 times.

2. Only six teams have attended every Commonwealth games – Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales.

3. The first commonwealth games type event was called the ‘Festival of Empire’ and was held in London in 1911. This event was organized to celebrate the coronation of King George V.

4. The most successful nation in the history of the Commonwealth games is Australia. They’ve won 803 gold medals and have a total medal count of over 2,000!

5. Between 1990 and 2002 the Nauruan weightlifter Marcus Stephen won twelve medals – seven of which were gold. In 2007 he was elected president of Nauru.