By Roy Lie A Tjam.
After 11 days, on August 3 2014, the XX Commonwealth Games came to an end in Glasgow, Scotland with a dazzling closing spectacle.
The Commonwealth Games were officially opened by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II on 23 July 2014. Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 of the 53 member states in the Commonwealth of Nations. She is also Head of the Commonwealth and Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
England, one of the home nations, topped the table but the Caribbean nations, notably Jamaica, did well. Despite some rain and chilly wind, the Jamaican team won ten gold medals at the games, part of an impressive tally of 22 medals won.
Trinidad & Tobago’s Chef de mission of the 2014 team, Dr Ian Hypolite, expects the Glasgow experience to hold his country in good stead for the road to Rio 2016: ‘My expectation is that we would have benefitted immensely. It was a natural stepping stone for many teams. Prior to the Rio Olympics, Caribbean Nations have the 2014 CAC (Central American and Caribbean) Games in Vera Cruz, Mexico, the Pan Am Games 2015 in Toronto, the Beijing 2015 IAAF World Championships for track and field – clear stepping stones to Rio. Experience will do us well as we progress along the way’Hypolite stated.
Trinidad & Tobago ended the Games with three silver medals and five bronze. Olympic men’s javelin champion Keshorn Walcott, 400 meters hurdles world champion Jehue Gordon and shotputter Cleopatra Borel were the silver medalists.
‘The Games have made us all very proud and truly brought our family together’, said HRH Prince Imran, President of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), during the closing ceremony.
