T&T will be represented by a number of its athletes, mainly track and field, netball, and swimming at today’s opening of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the 21st edition which will feature 72 countries in Birmingham, England when the opening ceremony takes place at the Alexander Stadium from 9 am (T&T time).

At present, most of the T&T contingent and officials are already in England ahead of the official start of the competition on Friday which will conclude on August 8 and will be camped at the University of Warwick, the University of Birmingham, and the NEC Hotel Campus.

At this year’s edition of the CG, T&T is being represented by a contingent of 110 athletes and officials in 12 of the 19 sporting disciplines – aquatics, athletics, basketball (3×3), beach volleyball, boxing, cycling, gymnastics, judo, netball, squash, table tennis, and triathlon.

At the 2018 edition of the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, T&T had gold medal performances from Jereem “The Dream” Richards in the men’s 200m sprint, Michelle Lee Ahye in the women’s 100m final, and a silver medal from swimmer, Dylan Carter in the men’s 50m butterfly splash.

The 2022 edition is the third time that England has hosted the competition after London 1934 and Manchester 2002, and the seventh time the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has welcomed athletes to the Games after Cardiff 1958, Edinburgh 1970 and 1986, and Glasgow 2014.

The Games debuted in Ontario, Canada in 1930 and only six teams have attended every Commonwealth Games inclusive of Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland, and Wales.

The Australians have been the highest scoring team for 13 games, England for seven, and Canada for one.

Of the 72 participating teams, 54 are Commonwealth of Nations countries, while the other 18 are territories.

There are three new sports – women’s T20 cricket, 3×3 basketball, and 3×3 wheelchair basketball.

The Aussies as expected lead the all-time medal table, adding a plethora of medals to their account after hosting the last Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in 2018.

They added 80 golds to their tally, which sits at 932 gold medals and 2,416 total medals heading into Birmingham 2022, and have topped the medal table for the fourth time in the past five Commonwealth Games.

However, on home turf, Team England will be looking to close the gap on the all-time list, sitting in second with 2,144 medals, 714 of those gold.

Canada is third (1,555 total, 484 gold), India fourth (503, 181), and New Zealand, fifth (657, 159 gold).

Leading the all-time Caribbean medal table at the CG is Jamaica, ranked 12th overall with 161 medals, (Gold 59 Silver 47 Bronze 55) while T&T is 19th, with 56 medals (Gold 10, Silver 21, Bronze 25), and the Bahamas, 20th with 36 (Gold 10, Silver 13, Bronze 13).

Overall, more than 5,000 athletes are expected to compete at this year’s games with celebrated athletes set to compete led by ten-time world sprint medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica, England’s triple Olympic champion, and speedy breaststroke swimmer Adam Peaty, and Pandelela Rinong Pam, Malaysia’s first female Olympic medallist who claimed bronze in 10m platform diving at London 2012.

Crowd favourite, swimmer Chad Le Clos of South Africa needs one more medal to share the title of most decorated Commonwealth Games athlete of all time, while out on the road, Namibia’s Helalia Johannes will defend her women’s marathon title.

TT’s TEAM

Aquatics: Cherelle Thompson, Dylan Carter, Graham Chatoor, Cadell Lyons, Kael Yorke, Jeron Thompson, Dexter Browne (coach), Hazel Haynes (manager).

Athletics: Jereem Richards, Michelle-Lee Ahye, Keshorn Walcott, Ruebin Walters, Akeem Stewart, Andwuelle Wright, Kelsey Daniel, Akanni Hislop, Omari Lewis, Mchael Cedenio, Nicholas Landeau, Leah Bertrand, Khalifa St Fort, Mauricia Prieto, Portious Warren, Tyra Gittens, Iantha Wright, Akilah Lewis, Che Lara, Jerod Elcock, Eric Harrison, Kion Benjamin, Kyle Greaux, Dwight St Hillaire, Asa Guevara, Kashief King, Dexter Voisin (official), Charles Joseph (official), Ismael Mastrapa Lopez (officials), Keston Bledman (official), Wendell Williams (official), Ian Carter (official).

Basketball (3X3): Adrian Joseph, Kemrick Julien, Steven Lewis, Sheldon Christian, Arnold Thomas, Milan Stamenkovic (officials).

Beach Volleyball: Phylecia Armstrong, Suraya Chase, Jason Dennis (official).

Boxing: Anthony Joseph, Nigel Paul, Tianna Guy, Reynold Cox (official), Rawlson Dopwell (official).

Cycling: Nicholas Paul, Kwesi Browne, Quincy Alexander, Akil Campbell, Teniel Campbell, Alexi Cost, Roger Frontin (official), Gregory D’Andrade (official), Craig McLean (official), Kevin Tinto (official).

Gymnastics: Annalise Newman-Achee, Cassandra Krotchko (official).

Judo: Gabriella Wood, Jelani Boyce, Xavier Jones, Paul Charles, Joel Bernard (official).

Netball: Shaquanda Greene-Noel, Faith Hagley, Tahira Hollingsworth, Jeresia McEachrane, Afeisha Noel, Shantel Seemungal, Aniecia Baptiste, Tia Bruno, Janeisha Cassimy, Joelisa Cooper, Tiana Dillon, Oprah Douglas, Kemba Duncan, Joel Young-Strong, Ashelle Legall.

Squash: Charlotte Knaggs, Chayse McQuan, Ryan Jagessar (official).

Table Tennis: Rheann Chung, Catherine Spicer, Derron Douglas, Reeza Burke (official).

Triathlon: Jenna Ross, Kaya Rankine-Beadle, Jason Costelloe, Jean-Marc Granderson, Derek Daniel (official).

Team officials: Lovie Santana (chef de mission), Rheeza Grant (covid19 liaison officer), Melanie Gulston (press attache), Jariel Mc Collin (administration); Rudranath Ramsawak, Nailah Adams, Alban Merepeza, Shurlan Bonas, Nicole Fuentes, Odessa Chandler, Verne Alleyne, Brent Elder, Derek Ashby-Williams, Keisha Fraser (medical officers).