Commonwealth Games prepares to pitch up in Birmingham this month amid a refreshed conviction of its place within the international sporting firmament.
No matter that in the period since the flame was snuffed out over the Carrara Stadium, a number of nations including Barbados and Jamaica have declared their intentions to remove the Queen as their respective head of state.
Crumbling political ties are yet to be reflected in the sporting side an organisation in which the Caribbean nations remain very much front and centre – and which comes to Birmingham very much in a position of renewed strength.
If those 12 glorious days on the Gold Coast taught us anything, it was to celebrate the superstars and also-rans in equal measure, and to champion the Commonwealth Games as an antidote to the corporate gigantism of so many other major sports events.
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