Commonwealth Games still showcase the best

It is easy to dismiss the Commonwealth Games as an example of the British delusion that they managed to shed their imperial status better than any other colonial power. But such a dismissive view of the second biggest sporting event after the Olympics ignores the role the Commonwealth Games have played in innovating and shaping sporting and even social attitudes.

This is all the more remarkable given that the original impetus for the Empire Games, as they were called until well into the Fifties, was to use sport to emphasise the supremacy of the Anglo-Saxon race. Despite this, from the very beginning there was a willingness to defy the prevailing political ethos. So in 1934 the second Empire Games were moved from Johannesburg to London because South African racism did not allow black athletes to compete.