Australia Up Close Aussies Prove Mettle At Commonwealth Games By DARREN McLEAN	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
白熱したコモンウェルス競技会 67ｶ国から1,500人が参加して先月クアラルンプールで行なわれたコモンウェルス競技会では、オーストラリア勢が198のメダルを獲得する活躍を見せました。シドニー五輪の前哨戦でもあるこの大会で、オーストラリアはその強さを存分にアピールしました。

Last monthAustralians relished the 11-day live telecast of the XVI Commonwealth Games from Kuala Lumpur.

Just like the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games have a proud tradition featuring gold medals, hoisted flags and national anthems, not to mention cheering crowds, striving athletes and sweet success, all of which are elements of Australia's favorite pastime: sport.

This was the first time an Asian country had hosted the Commonwealth Games, and what a memorable event it was, especially for Australia. In the most successful games to date, Australian athletes clocked record times and brought home a record number of medals.

The Commonwealth Games began as a sporting exhibition to celebrate the coronation of Great Britain's King George V in 1911. Australia, Canada and South Africa sent their finest swimmers, athletes, boxers and wrestlers to London to display their prowess. There were no gold medals at this event, however, just a 10 kilogram silver cup for the winning country, Canada.

It wasn't until 1930 that the Games, then called the British Empire Games, became an official event among Commonwealth nations held every four years. In the city of Hamilton, Canada, the 1930 games established the tradition of comradeship and healthy rivalry that remains at the heart of the Commonwealth Games today.

Over its 68-year history the games have grown in size, tradition and friendliness and are now comprised of 1,500 competitors from 67 nations taking part in 15 sports. New sports in this year's competition included rugby union sevens, tenpin bowling, one-day cricket and netball.

This year's Commonwealth Games were the most successful ever for the Australian team, which took home a total of 198 medals, 62 more than its nearest rival, England.

Austrlian "superfish" Suzie O'Neill also broke the record for the most gold medals, for these games and for all time. O'Neill collected six gold medals in the pool to add to her four from the 1994 Games in Victoria, Canada.

The only world record to fall was broken by Australia's men's 4 X 200m freestyle relay team, which included swimming's golden boy and four-time world champion Michael Klim.

Perhaps the only sour note of the games was the expulsion of world champion Australian cyclist Lucy Tyler-Sharman from competition. Tyler-Sharman was sent home after she claimed that team officials had sabotaged her chances for a medal after her foot pedals mysteriously failed in a semifinal event.

The drama of the velodrome was overshadowed by Australia's success in all the other arenas, including team golds in men's and women's hockey, squash and netball.

In a time where sport is largely ruled by money, the Commonwealth Games is sometimes considered the poorer brother of the Olympics. And, with the Sydney 2000 Olympics less than two years away, the build-up to Kuala Lumpur was seen as small in comparison.

But manager of the Australian Commonwealth Games Association, Perry Crosswhite, is confident the Commonwealth Games will continue to grow in stature as its own event, not a second-rate Olympics.

"All athletes, coaches and trainers describe the Commonwealth Games as an event with its own traditions and feelings, far surpassing the Olympics in terms of comradeship, friendliness and good fun," he said.

In the prelude to the Sydney 2000 Olympics, Australia's athletes wanted to assert their dominance in all sports, and that they did. The Kuala Lumpur games were an ideal testing ground for the young Australian athletes, who have their sights set firmly on Sydney 2000.

As the visions of Kuala Lumpur slowly fade away, Australians start counting the days to Sydney 2000 and hopes run high. With another record gold medal haul in Sydney, Australia will be able to proudly call itself one of the world's best sporting nations.

Shukan ST: Oct. 9, 1998

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