The Time Has Come For Commonwealth Games 2014 in Glasgow

After waiting seven years, the time has come for Glasgow to show the world what they have to offer.

The XX Commonwealth Games 2014 kicked off on Wednesday when the Queen declared the games open.

Things began with an opening event at Celtic Park that organizers had described as world-class.

It seems hard to believe that seven years ago, in 2007, a decision was made in Sri Lanka awarding Scotland the Games and now their moment has arrived.

For the next week, 4,500 athletes from 71 nations will compete in 17 events including swimming at Tollcross, rugby at Ibrox were New Zealand will defend their Rugby Sevens title, athletics at Hampden Park, triathlon in Strathclyde and much more.

While the Commonwealth Games hardly compares to the Olympics in terms of budget, scale, status, sporting achievements and more, this event was started by a Canadian called Melville Marks Robinson in response to the Americans’ win-at-all-costs attitude to the Olympics.

Eighty years later, this ‘friendly’ sporting event is still going strong and the added bonus is that Glasgow will benefit from hosting these games and the facilities it will leave behind.

The Glasgow velodrome has also been named after Sir Chris Hoy who is a six-time Olympic track cyclist champion who commented that this event is “in many ways can be better for a sports fan”.

Over 95% of the total tickets to the XX Commonwealth Games 2014 have already been sold and tickets are still available for events and closing ceremonies.