Melbourne Commonwealth Games,Commonwealth Games Melbourne 2006,Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games,2006 Commonwealth Games

The Melbourne common wealth games were on the of the largest sporting event s to be held inn the city over shadowing the Summer Olympics that were held in the city in 1956. These games were held in the Australian city between March 15 and March 26 of 2006. Incidentally, as with the Summer Olympics of 1956, the opening and the closing ceremonies were held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The scale of these games, in terms of the number of participants taking part (nearly 4500) and the events being organized, was truly gigantic. The Melbourne Commonwealth Games included a large repertoire of games including 16 sports, with 12 individual sports and 4 team sports. On the whole there were 247 events at these Commonwealth Games.

On of the notable aspects of these games was that they incorporated fully events for the elite athletes with a disability (EAD. The medals won by these athletes were included in the medal tally of the respective countries.

After these, the XVIII Melbourne Commonwealth Games, the city becomes the fourth Australian city to host the games after Sydney (1938), Perth (1962) and Brisbane in 1982.
The city is sometimes hailed as the cultural and sporting capital of the Commonwealth of Australia being the venue to a number of major sporting events like Grand Slam Tennis and Formula One, tours which are held in the city every year. The city lends its support to all the major events with a large proportion of its population turning up to support their favorite teams at the venues and regularly filling the stadiums to capacity.

The start of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games was with a splendid opening ceremony at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). This venue has recently been renovated and holds can now accommodate capacity crowds in excess of 100,000 spectators.

The participating athletes were accommodated in a specifically erected Games Village which was constructed on 20 hectare spot in the prominent inner suburb of Parkville. This specially made housing development integrated high-standard urban design and services. The locations were thus specially designed for these 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games as inspiring settings where the athletes could live and feel totally contented.

The closing ceremony of the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games was highlighted by the strong India cultural flavour in the passing of the baton to Delhi. The stage was brought alive with the amazing performances by a number of Bollywood actors present a colorful and vibrant ceremony representing the culture of India. The mascot of the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games, Shera the Friendly Tiger, was also showcased on the stage where he invited everybody to the Commonwealth Games.