Commonwealth Games 2022: An Introduction (Rhythmic Gymnastics)
Hello everyone,
It’s been a hot summer here in Europe, and frankly little has been going on in the world of rhythmic gymnastics over the past month. To hopefully quench our thirst for an RG competition, this week the focus is on the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, UK! This article is going to provide a brief summary of what this competition is about, who will be competing and when it is all happening.
What are the Commonwealth Games?
The Commonwealth Games are an international multi-sport event, which takes place once every 4 years. The partaking nations are the members of the Commonwealth which includes 56 independent countries with historic and cultural ties to the former British Empire. The Commonwealth originated during the de-colonization period in the early 20th century, and nowadays unites its members by the Commonwealth Charter which promotes the values of democracy, human rights, international peace, tolerance and respect for all.
The 22nd Games are taking place in the city of Birmingham, UK, over 12 days (between 28th July-8th August 2022). There are 280 events in 20 sports included in the schedule. Rhythmic gymnastics events will take place on 4th, 5th and 6th August (Thu, Fri, Sat). The motto for the 2022 Commonwealth Games is Games for Everyone to reflect the ethos of making sports more accessible, to promote equality and inclusiveness in sports.
Rhythmic Gymnastics at the Commonwealth Games
There are 14 competing associations in RG at the 2022 Games, namely Australia, Canada, Cyprus, England, Gibraltar, India, Malaysia, Namibia (tbc), New Zealand, South Africa, Scotland, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Wales. 30 individual rhythmic gymnasts will take part in this week's competitions.
There will be only RG competitions in the individual category, with no group events. Medals will be given in the teams competition, individual all-around and each of the individual finals (hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon). The detailed schedule for RG at the Games can be found on the official website here, official broadcasters - here.
The names of the gymnasts and the countries they represent can be seen below.

Australia
Ashari Jesse GILL
Lidiia IAKOVLEVA
Alexandra KIROI-BOGATYREVA

Canada
Tatiana COCSANOVA
Carmel KALLEMAA
Suzanna SHAHBAZIAN

Cyprus
Neofyta MAVRIKIOU
Anastasia PINGOU
Anna SOKOLOVA

England
Marfa EKIMOVA
Alice Rose LEAPER
Saffron Penelope SEVERN

Gibraltar
Mie ALVAREZ
Kylie GAIVIZO

India
Balveen KAUR

Malaysia
Izzah Binti AMZAN
Sie Yan KOI
Joe Ee NG

Namibia
Emilia Iyaloo Ndapewa EKANDJO

New Zealand
Paris Brooke CHIN
Havana Rosalie HOPMAN

South Africa
Kayla Jean RONDI

Scotland
Louise CHRISTIE

Singapore
Kaitlyn Joy CHIA
Katelin Wie Qi (wang Weiqi) HENG
Jin Wen Sophia HO

Sri Lanka
Anna-marie Suzanne Quint ONDAATJE

Wales
Lauryn Jade CARPENTER
Gemma Natasha FRIZELLE
Elizabeth Petrova POPOVA
More details about the entries can be found on the Games website here.
I think it is always great to see what various countries have to offer in the sport of RG!
I will be posting more about this RG competition later in the week – here, on my blog, and live from the venue on my new Twitter account!
See you next time,
MelodyRG