How To Watch The 2022 Commonwealth Games In Australia

The 2022 Commonwealth Games are in full swing, following the opening ceremony and first events that took place on the 28th of July. Australia is expected to perform well as a Commonwealth nation, especially considering we currently top the all-time medal table with a staggering 2415 medals across gold, silver and bronze, accumulated since the Commonwealth Games began in 1930.

So, how can you watch the Commonwealth Games in Australia? Firstly, you’re going to want to set some alarms, because owing to the time difference between Australia and the UK, where the Commonwealth Games are taking place, to watch the majority of events live, you’ll need to stay awake into the late hours of the night and early hours of the following morning.

Here’s everything you need to know.

When are the 2022 Commonwealth Games?

The 2022 Commonwealth Games will run from Thursday 28th July until Monday 8th August 2022.

The Games will officially open on Thursday 28th July with the opening ceremony, which will be broadcast live in Australia at 4.45 am AEST on Friday 29th July.

The first competition, Lawn Bowls, will commence at 5.30 pm AEST on Friday 29th July.

Where are the 2022 Commonwealth Games being held?

The 2022 Commonwealth Games are being held in Birmingham, UK. Birmingham was announced as the host city way back in 2017 and it marks the third time England has hosted the Games and seventh overall for the United Kingdom. The previous two occasions England hosted the games were Manchester in 2002 and London in 1934. The 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games also mark the 10th anniversary of the London 2012 Olympics.

The 2022 Commonwealth Games will be spread across 15 venues to host the various Commonwealth sports. Some of the venues spread across the wider West Midlands region and track cycling to take place at the Velodrome in London, used for the 2012 Olympics – but the other 7 venues, including the main athletics stadium – where the opening and closing ceremonies will also be held – are in Birmingham.

How to watch the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Australia?

• Channel 7
• 7mate
• 7Plus app

Obviously, Australians will want to know how they can keep up with all the sporting action, with big names such as Peter Bol making his Commonwealth Games debut, for example, following an impressive performance at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Channel 7 holds the exclusive broadcasting rights to the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and so will be broadcasting live coverage across the free-to-air channels, Channel 7 and 7mate, with the 7Plus app being home to replays of events.

Daily coverage will be available on Channel 7 from 7 pm AEST every day during the Games until 5.30 am AEST the following morning.

With 7Plus, you will be able to watch up to 30 live and replay channels of sports action, keep up to date with the constantly changing medal table, and create a watchlist and reminders, so that you don’t miss your favourite events.

Australia’s Chance To Make History

Australia could well make history in a number of ways at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. According to the all-time medal time, Australia is just 68 golds away from reaching an unprecedented 1000 gold medals. It’s certainly possible that feat will be reached this year, especially when you consider we won 80 golds at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast.

Notable Australian athletes such as Emma McKeon could also cement herself into Australia’s history books, as she needs just 3 gold medals to surpass Ian Thorpe, Susie O’Neill and Leisel Jones to not just become the most decorated Australian Commonwealth Games athlete, but the most decorated Commonwealth Games athlete, IN any sport, ever.

New Sports For 2022 Commonwealth Games

Birmingham 2022 will see four new sports debut, including women’s T20 cricket – which Australia’s women will be hoping for gold, having already claimed 5 world championship titles in the event.

Other new sports for 2022 include 3×3 basketball and 3×3 wheelchair basketball and para tennis.

Birmingham 2022 will also mark the first time able-bodied and para-athlete competitions will run alongside one another, as opposed to the usual format of having separate para-athlete games once the able-bodied games have come to a close.

2022 Commonwealth Games Sports

There are 20 sports in total for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, which are broken down into 280 individual events. The 20 sports at Birmingham 2022 are:

• Aquatics – Diving (12), Swimming (52)
• Athletics – 58
• Badminton – 6
• 3×3 Basketball – 4
• Beach Volleyball – 2
• Boxing – 16
• Cricket – 1
• Cycling – Mountain biking (2), Road (4), Track (20)
• Gymnastics – Artistic (14), Rhythmic (6)
• Field Hockey – 2
• Judo – 14
• Lawn bowls – 11
• Netball – 1
• Para powerlifting – 4
• Rugby sevens – 2
• Squash – 5
• Table tennis – 11
• Triathlon – 5
• Weightlifting – 16
• Wrestling – 12

Australian Athletes at the 2022 Commonwealth Games

Australia is sending a total of 434 athletes to England for Birmingham 2022: 201 men and 233 women.

Interestingly, Harry Garside won’t be competing for Australia in Boxing, despite having won gold for his country at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast.

Australia is expecting the majority of their medal haul to come in the swimming pool, with Emma McKeon, Ariarne Titmus, Kaylee McKeown and Zac Stubblety-Cook all genuine medal contenders.

Road cycling should be another event where Australia could taste success, but track cycling is hard to predict, following a rather poor showing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Peter Bol will be the man to look out for on the athletics track in the 800m event. Having just missed out on a medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he’ll be hoping for a better time out in Birmingham.

Commonwealth Games 2022 Medal Table

Medals were awarded on the very first day of the Commonwealth Games, and they have since continued to come thick and fast. Australia, as expected, currently tops the medal table, mainly thanks to the country’s swimming efforts in the pool.

The current top 10 of the medal tally table are as follows. Some Commonwealth nations may have a higher total number of medals than some ranked above them, but ranking is determined by the number of gold medals a nation has won.

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