Event of the Day: Commonwealth Games Gold Coast Day 1

Our event of the day is Day 1 of the 21st Commonwealth Games from the Gold Coast in Australia as it becomes the 5th Australian city to host the Games. The first day will not see any sporting action, but will instead be dedicated to the opening ceremony at the Carrara Stadium which also plays host to the athletics events once they get underway on 8thApril. Over the course of the 11 days of sporting action, over 6,500 athletes will compete for 275 gold medals across 19 different sports. This will eclipse the record set in Glasgow where just fewer than 5,000 athletes competed. The athletes will be representing a total of 71 different countries and territories across the competitions with over one million tickets said to have already been sold to spectators keen to catch a glimpse of the action.

Only two of the events, Track Cycling and Shooting, will be held in full outside of Gold Coast as they take place in Brisbane, although Cairns and Townsville will also host some preliminary Basketball games. Highlights of the Games are expected to be the Athletics, Rugby Sevens, Cycling and Swimming events. Although England came out on top in the medal tables at the last Games in Glasgow, Australia lead the all-time medal table ahead of the English. The Games promises to be an exciting spectacle with such a large number of events containing some huge international names from around the Commonwealth.

Honourable mentions around the globe go to the UEFA Champions league quarter-final match-up between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield. Liverpool will be desperate to gain an advantage before they have to travel to Manchester for the second leg in a week’s time, and its not out of the question, having been the only team to beat this seemingly unstoppable City side in the Premier League so far this season. Elsewhere in the Champions League semis, Barcelona and Roma begin their tie with a fixture at the Camp Nou in Barcelona. In the Scottish Premier League, leaders Celtic take on Dundee at Celtic Park whilst in Serie A, AC Milan face rivals Inter at the San Siro. Ligue 1 sees Rennes take on defending champions Monaco. The MLB continues with the Arizona Diamondbacks playing the Los Angeles Dodgers and the pick of the NBA games is the Toronto Raptors up against the Boston Celtics. In the NHL, the Anaheim Ducks host the Minnesota Wild and it’s the third day of the WTA Volvo Car Open in Charleston.

Whatever you’re watching, enjoy!

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Photos by GC 2018

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