Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth versus Olympic Games

The Olympic Games are the biggest sporting event in the world. Here is how the Commonwealth Games compares.

TOPIC	COMMONWEALTH GAMES	OLYMPIC GAMES
Size	Participation of approximately 4,500 athletes and 1,500 officials.	Participation of approximately 10,000 athletes and 5,000 officials.
Sports Included	Have predominantly been individual sports although the 1998 Games in Kuala Lumpur introduced a number of team sports into the program for a total number of 15 sports. There were 17 sports on the Manchester 2002 program and will be 16 on the Melbourne 206 program.	The number of sports has gradually increased at every Olympic Games due to an increasing number of sports being played on a worldwide basis. There were 24 sports on the Sydney 2000 program.
Countries Included	Commonwealth countries. These countries have a history of British colonisation and are registered under the Commonwealth Act.	All countries of the world are eligible to participate in the Olympic Games.
Duration of the Games	Approximately 10 days.	Approximately 17 days.