Commonwealth Cameos

Not every country at the Commonwealth Games is such a clear choice for inclusion at the event, and the additions Cameroon, Mozambique and Rwanda were the three most obvious examples of that in New Delhi.

But they’re competing at the Olympic-style games along with England, Australia, Canada and dozens of others countries and territories from every inhabited continent on the planet.

“It’s strange that we are part of it. But remember, we are surrounded by Commonwealth nations, that’s why we became Commonwealth,” Mozambique chef de mission Natarcia Remane said with a smile. “We had to become one.”

Mozambique is a former Portuguese colony that gained independence in 1975. It joined the Commonwealth in 1996, in part to foster closer ties with its Anglophone neighbors and also to broaden its international profile.

Cameroon joined the community shortly after that, but it has a history of closer ties to Britain. A portion of the west African nation was run by the British following the expulsion of German rule after World War I. The rest of the country was under French rule until the early 1960s, when they both gained independence and united into one country.

“We feel integrated,” Cameroon team doctor Yakana Boade Lucien said of the French and English factions that make up the country. “The two official languages are French and English. When you go to school, you are obliged to speak both.”

Rwanda was also under German occupation until the end of World War I. Control was then given over to Belgium by the League of Nations and became independent in 1962. Rwanda, whose people speak the local Bantu language as well as French and English, joined the Commonwealth in 2009.

The varied backgrounds and languages spoken in those countries doesn’t seem to mean anything to athletes competing in New Delhi, however.

“Because there’s less of an association with the British, when you’re out here you don’t even consider the empire,” Welsh field hockey player Emma Batten said. “You don’t notice (different languages) at all. It’s not strange to me at all.”

Although English has been the predominant language since the first Commonwealth Games — then known as the British Empire Games — in 1930, many of the 71 countries and territories in the 2010 edition speak a wide variety of languages. That makes it even easier to forget that the games were originally for British subjects.

“There’s lots of different countries,” Canadian weightlifter Emily Quarton said. “People here (in India) don’t necessarily speak English as a first language.”

But the lack of English can create a gulf when such a majority of the participants at the Commonwealth Games use it as a common language.

“It was only a few years ago that we started to feel the need to speak English,” Remane said of Mozambique. “Some of our athletes and coaches still don’t speak English, so it’s hard to feel a part of it (the commonwealth).”

Mozambican swimmer Monica Bernardo, however, said competing at the games is good for both her career and her geography.

“It doesn’t feel weird, but it’s weird that there are a lot of other countries we never heard about,” Bernardo said. “It’s cool that we’re affiliated with all these other countries. It’ll help us get experience.”

— Chris Lehoutites, AP