The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years.

It was initially known as the British Empire Games and was renamed to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1954 and the British Commonwealth Games in 1970, before finally gaining its current title for the 1978 edition. The Games are overseen by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), which also controls the sporting programme and selects the host cities. A host city is selected for each edition and eighteen cities in seven countries have hosted the event.

As well as many Olympic sports, the Games also include some sports that are played mainly in Commonwealth countries, such as lawn bowls, rugby sevens and netball. Only six teams have attended every Commonwealth Games: Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales. Australia has been the highest achieving team for eleven games, England for seven and Canada for one.

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1922 the British Empire held sway over about 458 million people, one-fifth of the world's population at the time, and covered more than 33,700,000 km² (13,012,000 sq mi), almost a quarter of the Earth's total land area. As a result, its political, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread. At the peak of its power, it was often said that "the sun never sets on the British Empire" because its span across the globe ensured that the sun was always shining on at least one of its numerous territories.

During the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, England, France and the Netherlands began to establish colonies and trade networks of their own in the Americas and Asia. A series of wars in the 17th and 18th centuries with the Netherlands and France left England (and then, following union between England and Scotland in 1707, Great Britain) the dominant colonial power in North America and India. The loss of the Thirteen Colonies in North America in 1783 after a war of independence deprived Britain of some of its oldest and most populous colonies.

Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister, CBE (born 23 March 1929) is an English former athlete best known for running the first mile in less than 4 minutes. Bannister became a distinguished neurologist and Master of Pembroke College, Oxford, before retiring in 2001.

Sir Roger was the inaugural recipient of the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year award in January 1955 (1954 Sportsman of the Year).

Roger Bannister was born in Harrow, England. He went to Vaughan Primary school in Harrow before going on to be educated at Beechen Cliff School Bath, University College School, London, Exeter College and Merton College, Oxford, and at St Mary's Hospital Medical School (now part of Imperial College London).

Bannister was inspired by miler Sydney Wooderson's remarkable comeback in 1945. Eight years after setting the mile record and seeing it surpassed during the war years by the great Swedish runners Arne Andersson and Gunder Hägg, Wooderson regained his old form and challenged Andersson over the distance in several races. Wooderson lost to Andersson but set a British record of 4:04.2 in Göteborg on 9 September.

John Michael Landy, AC, CVO, MBE (born 12 April 1930) is an Australian former Olympic track athlete. He was the second man to break the four-minute mile barrier in the mile run, and he held the world records for the 1500 metre run and the mile race. He was also the 26th Governor of Victoria from 2001–2006.

Born in Melbourne, John Landy attended school at Malvern Memorial Grammar School and Geelong Grammar School. He graduated from Melbourne University in 1954, receiving a Bachelor of Agricultural Science.

During his school years, Landy enjoyed watching 1500 metre track events. He became a serious runner during his college years, joining the Geelong Guild Athletic Club in 1949. He was a member of the Australian Olympic team at both the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki and 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. He took the Olympic Oath at the 1956 Olympics.

On 21 June 1954, at an international meet at Turku, Finland, Landy became the second man, after Roger Bannister, to achieve a sub-4-minute mile, recording a world record time of 3:57.9, ratified by the IAAF as 3:58.0 owing to the rounding rules then in effect. That record held for more than three years.

Milkha Singh (born 8 October 1935) also known as Milky Singh is an Indian athlete, who represented India in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome and the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He is nicknamed The Flying Sikh.

He is also the father of the professional golfer Jeev Milkha Singh.

Milkha Singh represented India in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, where his inexperience showed. Thereafter, he won gold medals in both the 200m and 400m events at the 1958 Asian Games, clocking 21.6 seconds and 47 seconds respectively. He progressed to win a gold medal in the 400m competition at the 1958 Cardiff Commonwealth Games, with a time of 46.16 seconds. This latter achievement made him the first gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games from independent India.

Subsequently, he competed in Pakistan and his successes there earned him the nickname of The Flying Sikh.

At the 1960 Olympics in Rome, he finished second in all of his 400m races prior to the final,improving his time on each occasion. In the final event he set off strongly to the fore but was overhauled by the field and finished in fourth place, this being a decision that required a photo-finish. His time was 45.6 seconds and his finishing position was not bettered by an Indian track athlete until the 1984 Olympics, when P.T. Usha missed out on the 400 m hurdles bronze medal by 1/100th of a second.