2002 Commonwealth Games

The City of Manchester Stadium hosted Athletics and Rugby Sevens events

Manchester Aquatics Centre hosted Diving and Swimming events

The Manchester Arena hosted the boxing and netball events

Manchester Velodrome hosted the track cycling programme

The venues were eclectic ranging from high-tech architecture in the newer City of Manchester Stadium to the 19th-century Manchester Central hall. The Games' main venue was the City of Manchester Stadium (now Etihad Stadium), which hosted all athletics events, the rugby sevens and the opening and closing ceremonies. The stadium was a smaller and downscaled version of that proposed during Manchester's bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Construction started in January 2000,[17] and was completed shortly before the Games. The cost was approximately £110 million, £77 million of which was provided by Sport England, with the remainder funded by Manchester City Council.[18] For the Commonwealth Games the stadium featured a single lower tier running around three sides of the athletics track, and second tiers to the two sides, with an open-air temporary stand at one end, giving an overall capacity of 41,000.[19] The stadium formed the centrepiece of an area known as Sportcity. Other venues in Sportcity include the Manchester Velodrome, which hosted cycling, and the £3.5m National Squash Centre, which was built specifically for the Games.[20]

Swimming and diving events took place at Manchester Aquatics Centre, another purpose-built venue, and until 2012,was the only one in the United Kingdom with two 50 m pools.[21]

The Manchester Arena built in 1994, at the time was the largest arena in Europe hosted netball finals and boxing preliminares.[22]

The shooting events were held at the National Shooting Centre, Bisley (located in Surrey). The NSC saw major redevelopment of all its ranges in order to host the fullbore rifle, smallbore rifle, pistol and clay target events.

The Games Village was located in the residential area of the University of Manchester Fallowfield Campus -in an area of 30 acres, being built specifically for the event and after the Games the buildings were donated to the university and turned an expansion of the housing complex.[23]

The Queen's Baton Relay passes through Wolverhampton before the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

The 2002 Queen's Jubilee Baton Relay, the continuation of a tradition that started with the 1958 Games, consisted of the relay of an electronic baton, containing a personal message from Elizabeth II across 23 Commonwealth nations. The relay culminated in the arrival of the baton at the City of Manchester Stadium, opening the Games. The speech was then removed electronically from the baton, and read by Her Majesty to open the Games.[24]

The 2002 Baton itself was designed by a company called IDEO, and was constructed of machined aluminium with the handle plated for conductivity. It weighed 1.69 kg, reached over 710 mm, and was 42.5 mm to 85 mm in diameter. The Queen's message itself was held in an aluminium capsule inserted into the top of the Baton. On either side of the Baton were two sterling silver coins, designed by Mappin and Webb, which celebrated the City of Manchester as host of the XVII Commonwealth Games.

The Baton was also equipped with sensors that detected and monitored the Runner's pulse rate. This information was then conveyed to a series of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), via a light behaviour module. The lens then transformed the LEDs into a shaft of bright blue pulsating light which synchronised with each new Runner. The hearts of the Runner and the Baton then beat as one until it was passed on, symbolising the journey of humanity and the essence of life.

The Queen's Jubilee Baton Relay passed through over 500 cities, towns and villages across the UK and the Baton was carried by 5,000 individuals, with each Runner carrying the Baton up to 500 yards, however on Saturday 15 June, the baton was snatched from a runners hand in the town of Connah's Quay, Deeside in north Wales.

The UK Baton Runners were made up of people from all walks of life including athletes, celebrities and local heroes from all over the country. Around 2500 Jubilee Runners were nominated by the community to carry the Baton, because they made a special contribution to their community or achieved a personal goal against the odds.

The judging of the Jubilee Runners was conducted by a panel of judges under the supervision of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award in January 2002. The relay was sponsored by Cadbury Schweppes, a major UK confectionery and soft drinks manufacturer.

The cost of hosting the 2002 Commonwealth Games was estimated at £300 million.[25] Prior to the games, a £100 million was required to fill a financial black hole and the government agreed to provide the funding required,[26] despite some believing that £300 million was too much.[27]

Cultureshock was the Commonwealth Games Cultural Programme which ran alongside the Games themselves. The events ranged from images of the athlete as hero in sculpture and photography (Go! Freeze, which ran at Turton Tower in Bolton) to a Zulu performance at The Lowry. There was an exhibition at the Whitworth Art Gallery called Tales of Power: West African Textiles, and a performance of the film Monsoon Wedding at Clwyd Theatr Cymru. The geographical range was from Cheshire in the south to Blackburn and Cumbria in the north, and included that year the various Melas that take place around the region.

Cultureshock also ensured that a wide range of cultural events and acts reached the "man on the street", with the city centre of Manchester filled with bands, performers, and artists of various forms entertaining the thousands of visitors to the Games. It also coincided with the BBC's 2002 Festival Live series of open-air concerts and celebrations around the country, held to celebrate the Queen's Golden Jubilee. Many of the cultural events were covered by the BBC 2002 radio station covering the games.

Opening Ceremony

The Project & Artistic Director for the Opening Ceremony was David Zolkwer. Five-time Olympic champion Sir Steve Redgrave opened the two-and-a-quarter-hour opening ceremony by banging a large drum, which initiated a co-ordinated dance and fireworks act. The champion rower was joined on the stage by sporting stars including yachtswoman Ellen MacArthur, heptathlete Denise Lewis, long-distance runner Moses Kiptanui, swimmer Susie O'Neill and sprinter Donovan Bailey. The Grenadier Guards shared the arena with pop band S Club and Salford-born opera singer Russell Watson sang the Games' theme, "Faith of the Heart", while the arrival of HM The Queen was greeted with a flypast by the Red Arrows. England football captain David Beckham helped chaperone Queen's Baton final runner Kirsty Howard, assisting the terminally ill six-year-old to hand the baton to The Queen. A 4,000-strong cast took part in the £12 million spectacular, which in theme and tone consisted of a mix of "pomp and pop", combining the ceremonial aspects of the Games with a party-style atmosphere, based on Manchester's reputation as the party city of "Madchester".[28] The ceremony was voiced by broadcaster Anthony Davis.

Athletes Parade at the Opening Ceremony

The traditional athletes' parade was led by previous hosts Malaysia, and England brought up the rear before The Queen as the Head of the Commonwealth, declared the Games open:

"All of us participating in this ceremony tonight, whether athletes or spectators, or those watching on television around the world, can share in the ideals of this unique association of nations,"

"We can all draw inspiration from what the Commonwealth stands for, our diversity as a source of strength, our tradition of tolerance ... our focus on young people, for they are our future."

"It is my pleasure in this my Golden Jubilee Year to declare the 17th Commonwealth Games open."[29]

The Project & Artistic Director for the Closing Ceremony was David Zolkwer. The Queen ended 11 days of competition at a rain-drenched closing ceremony in the City of Manchester Stadium. She declared the Games closed in front of a 38,000 sell-out crowd gathered in the stadium. She also called on the athletes to assemble again in four years in Melbourne and to continue displaying the "friendship" they had shown in Manchester. The ceremony, attended by Prime Minister Tony Blair and several other dignitaries, took place in pouring rain and like the opening ceremony, mixed "pomp with pop". Australian Ian Thorpe, the star of the Games with his six swimming golds, carried his national flag into the arena, along with athletes from each of the other competing countries. Around 40,000 balloons were released into the rainy Manchester sky as the ceremony concluded with a spectacular fireworks display.

Closing ceremony highlights included:[30]

• Children covering themselves with red, blue and white paint to portray a giant British flag before unveiling a giant portrait of The Queen as a Golden Jubilee gift.
• The athletes bringing their national flags into the stadium
• South African swimmer Natalie du Toit being honoured as the outstanding athlete of the Games.[31]
• The symbolic handover of the Commonwealth Games Ceremonial Flag to Melbourne, host city for the 2006 Games.
• A spectacular presentation with over 1,700 lanterns, which ended with the message 'Seek Peace' lit up in vast letters on the floor of the arena.
• Coronation Street stars Steve Arnold and Tracy Shaw (who played characters Ashley and Maxine Peacock) arriving in one of 40 Morris Minors which became the centre of a song-and-dance showpiece.
• Hip-hop DJ Grandmaster Flash encouraging the massed ranks to "make some noise" as athletes and volunteers poured into the arena to music from the likes of Will Young, Dave Stewart, Heather Small, Jimmy Cliff and Toploader.
• Australian singer Vanessa Amorosi sang her signature tune, Shine and a song about the city of Melbourne, "I'll always be a Melbourne girl" just as it began to pour with rain.

The 2002 Commonwealth Games' logo is an image of three figures standing on a podium with their arms uplifted in the jubilation of winning or in celebration, which represents the three core themes of the Games: sport, culture and friendship and the types of medalist in the games: gold, silver and bronze. The figures are captured in three colours which are red, blue and green. The red represents performance, passion and success; the blue symbolises intelligence, confidence and reliability, while the green represents loyalty, balance and generosity. The yellow background behind the figures represents the competitive, powerful and cheerful elements of the Games, while the black games' name letters representing solidarity and strength. The figures in the logo joining hands to resemble the letter 'M', which is the initial for the host city, Manchester and also a crown of the queen to represent the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II's reign as the monarch of The United Kingdom. The logo overall represents a celebration of sharing and friendship and the pride of participating in the Games, cheerful atmosphere, sportsmanship and confidence of Manchester as the games host city.[47]

The official mascot of the 2002 Commonwealth Games is a cat named Kit. The adoption of the cat as the games' mascot is to represent the young, vibrant, friendly, dynamic personality of Manchester as the games' host city.[48]

Numerous companies ranging from international to local, sponsored the 2002 Games.[49][50] International sponsors included Microsoft and Xerox and also companies with local links to Manchester including Guardian Media Group, PZ Cussons and United Utilities.