CWG Diary, Day 3: Assault and protest prior to start of Games

There is already a buzz prior to the start of the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.

Australian Aboriginals display banners during a protest outside the Carrara Stadium, before the opening ceremony.

The Gold Coast police have initiated an investigation on two members of the Mauritius contingent, taking part at the XXI Commonwealth Games on a suspected case of assault at the Games Village.

The duo – an athlete and an official – is being investigated on the basis of a complaint received by the police late into Tuesday night. The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Queensland, Steve Gollschewski who confirmed the incident, however, was unwilling to give away the names of neither the two accused nor the complainant.

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The CGF CEO David Grevemberg, when contacted, said that though he was aware of the police investigation, he had no idea about the incident, per se, and was awaiting for a full report.

Busiest day

A total of 275 sets of medals will be given away during the 11-day competition across various disciplines at the XXI Commonwealth Games, but all the mad rush will be on April 14 – a day before the event concludes.

The most number of medal sets, 44, will be presented on that day, making it the busiest day of the Games, while the traffic to the podium will also be quite heavy on April 8th and 9th when a total of 33 and 35 sets will be distributed on these two days respectively. In comparison, the lowest number of medals to be given away on any given day is 14 on April 15, the day in which the Games closes.

The complete break up of the medals to be given away are as follows: April 5 (19); April 6 (17); April 7 (21); April 8 (33);  April 9 (35); April 10 (26); April 11 (17); April 12 (23); April 13 (26); April 14 (44); April 15 (14).

Queen’s Baton Relay

The Queen’s Baton Relay, which carries the monarch’s message to be read at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games, was stranded for a while here on Wednesday, with just a few hours remaining for the opening gala.

The stoppage of about an hour within the city was orchestrated by a protesting aboriginal group of around 30 people which forced the QBR to rest for nearly an hour at a car park before the organisers resumed its journey through an altered route.

The protesters under the banner of the Stolenwealth Games Group have been trying to highlight the alleged atrocities against the aborigine people by colonists. However, the Queensland State Police in a statement said that police intervention at such incidents will occur only if protests turned violent.