The city of Manchester is the capital of the North West and is the commercial, educational and cultural focus for this vibrant region of England. As well as having a population of over 400,000, 60 per cent of the population of Britain, more than 33 million people, and lives within a two hour drive of Manchester. Manchester is an international destination for conferences and exhibitions with more than 200,000 bed spaces within one hour’s drive of the city Centre.
Venue
The XVII Commonwealth Games was a world-class event and the most significant multi-sport event to be held in Great Britain since the Olympics of 1948. It was the largest in the history of the Commonwealth Games with participating athletes from 72 nations competing in 14 individual sports and three team sports from 25 July – 4 August 2002.
Sports/Disciplines
The sports contested were Aquatics, Athletics, Badminton, Boxing, Cycling, Gymnastics, Hockey, Judo, Lawn Bowls, Netball, Rugby 7s, Shooting, Squash, Table Tennis, Triathlon, Weightlifting and Wrestling.
For the first time in the Games history, indeed at any multi-sport event in the world, a limited number of full medal events for elite athletes with a disability (EAD) were included in a fully inclusive sports programmer. The sports which included EAD events were Athletics, Lawn Bowls, Swimming, Table Tennis and Weightlifting.