Qualifying for a Commonwealth Games. To represent your country on the international stage is a true privilege, an honour, but without doubt one of the stand out moments in a track and field athlete’s career. This moment begins for many in a year’s time, when the Commonwealth returns to the Home Nations for the 20th games in Glasgow 2014. After the huge success of Delhi back in 2010, Glasgow 2014 will be the biggest sporting and cultural event Scotland has even seen, with track and field, marathon, walk and Para-sport events all being the forefront of the showpiece. However, with England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland competing as separate entities, how do these athletes from across the Home Nations qualify in order to take their “moment”…
So first let’s take it from the perspective of the Commonwealth Games Federation. According to their eligibility, athletes must be citizens or subjects of the country that enters them. However, athletes born in a country that share common passports/citizenships with other Commonwealth Countries, have the right to compete for the country of their birth, or of the country of their mother or father’s birth that shares the same citizenship/passport. Athletes also have to adhere to not currently being under any form of disqualification or suspension as well as comply with all amicable rules and regulations of both the Federation and World Anti Doping Code.
So what of the Home Nations Selection Policy!? With all four nations running similar processes, let us take England as an example. Due to the nature of the European Championships in close proximity, England Athletics will nominate athletes to Commonwealth Games England or the so called CGE. The CGE consists of a selection panel which comprises of:
a). Team Leader,
b). Head Coach,
c). 1 x Representative of each of the 4 event groups (Jumps and Combined Events, Sprints and Hurdles, Endurance and Throws),
d). Lead Team Manager,
e). Statistician,
f). Media/Medical/Advisory Representatives
g). Independent Observer,
These persons will nominate, debate and sanction final athlete selections by the 2nd June 2014, covering the multi discipline events including 6 Para-sport events, and be chosen based on athletic performance in the so called “Qualification Period” between the 1st January 2013 and 1st June 2014. The clear priority for the panel is athletes who they feel can achieve the realistic aims of the team, and by doing so decisions are based around:
i). Previous Commonwealth Games results
ii). Commonwealth Ranking Lists
iii). Consistency of Athlete Performance
iv). Previous Athlete Championship Performance
v). Head to Head Performance
vi). Current form and fitness
Athletes who fulfil the majority of these factors are clearly put forward for nomination first. This is followed by athletes who fulfil one or two of these factors fully and/or one or two factors in a satisfactory manner. To add to this, the panel also needs to add athletes for both 4x100m and 4x400m relay men’s and women’s squads, with the exception this time being that these previous factors do not come into consideration. If any remaining places need to be filled within the team, and at the Head Coach’s judgement, athletes may be picked on their abilities as “a wildcard”, along with athletes previously selected “doubling up” in other events, if clearly this does not detract from their performance in their so called “main event”.
With the complex nature of selection, endless debate of “youth” or “experience” and differing athletic bodies’ ideas and theories, I don’t know about you but let’s maybe leave this one to the professionals…
