After a quarter tone of fireworks, two hours of symbolism, a huge metal bull and some more talk about what it all means, there will be sport. Eleven days of her, all the flavors from 72 corners of a conflictive and aged concept.
Has it really been 10 years since England hosted one of these parties? And who could have known how moods would change within these borders, from then to now?
It's not the Olympics. Of course it isn't. But if the silly and wonderful quirks of sport are of any use it is in creating relaxing distractions, and so the silly and wonderful quirks of Birmingham 2022. With the blessing of Prince Charles shortly after 10 p.m. m., the 22nd edition of the Commonwealth Games was declared open.
Open to 6,500 athletes. Open to the million people who have bought tickets. Open to many more who will see on the screens.
For the sad ones, you can smell it, if people so wish. We can also point with some justification to a minor constellation of local stars that we are familiar with in these scenarios: not Dina Asher-Smith. No Brownlee, none of them. Without Max Whitlock. Not Tom Daley, or not on a trampoline for that matter.
No. They leave due to injury, retirement or indifference.
Perhaps the last one is the key. And perhaps, to build on that, this will be one of the last we see of this ancient reunion. That the Games are being held in Birmingham is due to Durban's withdrawal, and no one running this program ignores that the list of willing hosts is not long. They have Australia set for 2026, but what then?
What place can be found in a busy sporting landscape for costly festivities of diminishing relevance, particularly when some of the Commonwealth's connotations are so problematic? In an era of toppling statues, what price is the future of a Games that acknowledges the discomfort of their colonial existence, but knows that even a top-notch Usain Bolt couldn't outrun them?
It is necessary to appreciate those contexts. As have others, like the one who brought Daley here for the opening ceremony. He won't be diving into the Sandwell Aquatics Center pool: his part was in the baton relay and his message as an openly gay athlete was that 35 of the 56 Commonwealth member states currently criminalize same-sex relationships.
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