Global sporting competitions like the Olympics Games, FIFA World Cup, and the Commonwealth Games showcase the athletic ability of the best in the world. And in turn, as medals are won, nationalism and national pride increases for those nations that are successful. Plus some nations beyond the host city will even get a boost to their economy simply by the strong performance of their athletes. It’s why where possible, smaller nations follow the lead of larger nations and invest heavily in sports. So how have Caribbean countries which have some of the smallest economies, landmass, and population of those competing during the Commonwealth Games done over the years?
Well, the infographic below created after compiling and analyzing data from the Commonwealth Games Federation provides insight. Specifically, Caribbean islands have participated in 18 of the previous 19 Commonwealth Games. In terms of success, Caribbean islands have only won 227 Commonwealth Games medals – just 2.64% of the total awarded.
And no surprise, Jamaica is the only Caribbean island to host a Commonwealth Games – leads with nearly half of the medals won. Also that most of the medals are for athletic events. So how will the Caribbean region do at Glasgow 2014? Hopefully, they’ll better their best performance which was at the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games and all 17 of the Caribbean islands participating will win at least one medal. Will that happen? One can only hope. But we’ll just have to tune in, watch and cheer on when the games begin next Tuesday, 23rd July!
