17th Commonwealth Games, Manchester 2002 Opening Ceremony

Manchester intended from the outset to stage the most successful Commonwealth Games ever, beginning with an Opening Ceremony, attended by Her Majesty the Queen, and taking place in the new purpose-built City of Manchester Stadium at Sportcity on the evening of Thursday 25th July, 2002. Most authorities agree that in this intention the City of Manchester handsomely succeeded in holding the biggest and best Commonwealth Games to date.

The Games ran for ten days from Friday 26th July to Sunday 4th August, with the final track and field events in the new Stadium prior to the Closing Ceremony. 17 sports were represented with over 4000 competitors coming from 72 nations within the British Commonwealth. Around one million visitors are thought to have come to Manchester to see the event live and the world television audience was estimated to top one billion.

Visit the Wikipedia for more history of the games, and here the legacy it left behind.

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