The Commonwealth Games, formerly the British Empire Games,
have been held almost every four years since 1930 and have gained a reputation
for being a "mini Olympics". Entrants can come from any of the
fifty-three member states of the
British Commonwealth,
the
British Overseas
Territories and the home nations of
the
United Kingdom.
Countries formerly in the
British Commonwealth or Empire,
such as
Ireland
and the
United States of America,
do not qualify. This year the event was held in
Australia
on the Queensland Gold Coast. Team St Helena sent nine athletes, all male, to
compete in four events. For the first time ever, the mission departed their
island home from the new airport. They took off for
Johannesburg,
South Africa with their coaches
and officials on the 17th of March. From there they caught connecting flights
to
Australia. The
swimmer Ben Dillion competed in the 50 and 100 metres freestyle, the 50 metres
butterfly and the 100 metres freestyle relay. He also carried the flag at the
opening ceremony. Colby Thomas competed in the 100 metres breast, freestyle and
freestyle relay; and the 50 metres breast and freestyle. Duwaine Yon swam in
the 100 metres breast, freestyle and freestyle relay; also the 50 metres breast
and freestyle. He trained in
Jamestown's
public swimming pool and the sea. Joshua Yon competed in 100 metres and 50
metres backstroke and 100 metres freestyle relay. Scott George swan the 50 and
100 metres breast. Sean Crowie was
St Helena's sole
track competitor, taking part in the 100 and 200 metre dashes. Simon Henry and
Carlos Yon took part in two shooting events, the 50 metre prone rifle and the
50 metre three position rifle. Vernon Smeed took part in the men's singles
badminton. Sources:
https://www.sainttravelltd.com/lets-meet-team-st-helena/
and:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Helena_at_the_2018_Commonwealth_Games.
Unfortunately none of these competitors advanced past their
heats. Well done to them for trying though. Practice makes perfect and
hopefully we'll see one of them on the medal podium someday. As you can see in
the links above, several of the team are expatriate Saints. Vernon Smeed is the
badminton coach for the Royal Marines and lives here in
England,
in
Devon. Simon Henry trains in
Oxford
where I live and I wonder if I have met him; he looks vaguely familiar. Many of
the surnames of the team and their officials are the same, indicating that they
are related, which you would expect considering
St Helena's
population is only four and a half thousand people. Sport may well be an
interest running through certain families. It's impossible to tell if the new
airport has had an effect on
St Helena's athletic
prowess. The team and its performance were fairly similar for the 2014
Commonwealth Games when they had to travel there and back on the old RMS, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Helena_at_the_2014_Commonwealth_Games.
I will have to wait for several more tournaments before I can say one way or
the other whether the airport is a factor.
