My Commonwealth Games - Athletics

Watching the last night of the athletics at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi was an absolute highlight of my visit to India (so far!).

I got to sing my national anthem (loudly and badly, but enthusiastically) a total of four times. That's a great feeling. I met some Kiwis who were running late as they had just watched NZ win the gold in the Rugby 7s. They were ecstatic! They were in Delhi to watch their nephew compete, confirming my earlier suspicion that I am the only foreigner watching the CWG in Delhi who is not related to an athlete. I wonder if I could adopt one.

So what was so great about this night? Well, first of all, I got to meet Jacob Groth who was in the Australian Men's 4 x 100m relay. They placed 4th in the final, missing out on a gong by just 0.25 of second. They were great to watch. Not being the shy type, I asked Jacob to sign my ticket for me, which he graciously did. Even better, he gave me his competitor number from his running shirt (#1045). It is a really cool souvenir which he also signed. It totally made my night. He was very friendly and his family were soooo proud of him. What an accomplishment!


Australia won gold in the Men's Pole Vault (Steve Hooker), the Women's Pole Vault (Alana Boyd), 4 x 400m Men's Relay and the Javelin (Jarrod Bannister). All the competitions were a delight to watch. The photo shows the Aussie Men's 4 x 400m Relay Team who leapt the barrier separating the track from the crowds, to come to our stand.

Another highlight was the Women's 5,000m, which saw Kenya place 1st, 2nd and 3rd. As those women ran around the track they just looked so fluid and synchronised - they were a real pleasure to watch. The photo at the top of this page shows them racing by, in a blur, with no-one within cooee of them.

Finally, the big surprise of the evening was the Indian Women's team winning gold in the 4 x 400m Relay. Not just a surprise to me, but to the commentators, the media and the 64,000 Indians in the stands. It was an absolutely brilliant experience. It became obvious after the 2nd baton change that the Indians had a chance of winning a medal - something that's really unusual for them in athletics. Then when the 3rd baton change occurred, the runner just took off, leaving everyone else for dead. The crowd was going absolutely apoplectic with excitement, including the Aussies and Kiwis who for once were cheering on the same team: India!

When the last runner sped over the finish line in 1st place it was pandemonium in the stands, with 64,000 people jumping up and down shreaking with delight. If joy was something that you could measure, on this night it would have gone off the scale. It was awesome to see so many people so happy.

Now at CWG events, most of the Indian crowd leaves about an hour before the end, leaving the stands abandoned to the few diehards and people like me who are just enjoying being there. On this night, no-one left, as everybody waited for the chance to sing the Indian national anthem when the Women's Relay team were presented with their gold medals. Within seconds of the medal ceremony being over, I would say that 60,000 people stood up and made a beeline for the exits, causing much crushing and confusion. But they organisers had a trick up their sleeves: they played 'Jai Ho' on the loudspeakers. It had an instantaneous effect: everyone stopped making for the exits and started dancing in the aisles. What a sight! What a method of crowd control. :-)

By the time the last medal ceremony was over, there were perhaps 100 people left in the stands. I made up for their absence by singing very, very loudly. :-)