The Flying Sikh: India’s Milkha Singh (left) wins the 440 yards race at the 1958 British Empire Games in Cardiff in a record time of 46.6 seconds, which remained a National Record for 38 years till Paramjeet Singh broke it in 1998. Milkha’s feat, which put Indian athletics on the world map, also earned the country its first individual gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, prompting the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to declare a national holiday on the athlete’s request.
Lightning strikes the Games: Usain Bolt finishes the anchor leg as Jamaica wins the men’s 4x100m relay final at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. This was the first time the world record holder in men’s 100m and 200m graced the Commonwealth Games stage and announced his arrival by clinching the 4 x 100 metres relay gold with Jamaican teammates Nickel Ashmeade, Kemar Bailey Cole and Jason Livermore in 37.58 seconds and setting a Games record. The world champion was recovering from a foot injury and participated only in the relay event but made it up to fans with a lap of honour at Hampden Park after the victory.
Blazing a golden trail: Nicola Adams of England (Blue) celebrates after winning the women’s flyweight gold over Northern Ireland’s Michaela Walsh at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Adams was the first-ever woman boxer to strike gold when the sport made its debut at the London Olympics in 2012 and two years later, she claimed top honours when women’s boxing was introduced to the Friendly Games. Adams overcame Walsh, who was a decade younger than the Briton, in a closely contested final and went on to retain her Olympic flyweight title at Rio 2016 to affirm her supremacy.
The Miracle Mile: Touted as the “The Mile of the Century”, the men’s mile run competition at the 1954 British Empire Games in Vancouver, now known as the Commonwealth Games, was lit up by the legendary Roger Bannister of England and John Landy of Australia. That Bannister had become the first runner to run the mile in under four minutes only for Landy to better the Englishman a month later added to the anticipation ahead of the event. With Landy (right) leading for the most part of the race, Bannister eventually streaked clear off the last bend, ending 0.8 seconds ahead of the Australia to clinch the gold in 3:58.8.
Making history at 11: Anna Hursey of Wales (middle) is thought to be the youngest competitor in the history of the Commonwealth Games after her participation at Gold Coast 2018 at the age of 11. Hursey beat Halima Nambozo of Uganda in her opening round match in the women’s singles event before going down to Li Sian Chang of Malaysia. She was also a part of the women’s team that advanced to the quarterfinal. A United Nations ambassador for climate change in sport, the teenager from Cardiff will represent Wales in the women’s team event at the 2022 Games.
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