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There has been a lot of criticism of the latest Commonwealth Games and admittedly a lot of it is deserved. The games are running though and by and large events are being completed to everyone’s satisfaction.

A disturbing feature however has been the groundswell of (ill-informed) opinion that the Commonwealth Games is a dinosaur and should be done away with. Many people have been claiming that the World Games and Olympic Games are the only valid competitions.

I worry about that. They tend to be just a glorification of USA and how much money has gone into promoting the training. Earlier I wrote a post on a US Olympic skier who trains in NZ in the odd-season. She has an entire entourage of trainers, coaches and assistants working all year round to perfect her performance. Is this sport?

I find it refreshing to watch the Commonwealth Games and seeing small nations in with a chance. A bit of dedication and commitment goes a long way and can be rewarded. Its is actually nice to see finals made up of a number of different countries and not dominated by just a couple of nations.

If you are record obsessed then sure, the Commonwealth Games winners are not always recording the best in the world but sport is all about the performance of the day. When athletes are giving the best that they can on the day against each other that is sport and I love it.

I’m bloody glad that USA is not part of the Commonwealth. To my mind they ruin sport and represent everything bad that professionalism has brought.