The 1990 Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1990 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) were held in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about It ...

, New Zealand from 24 January – 3 February 1990. It was the 14th

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

, and part of New Zealand's 1990

sesquicentennial An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints. ...

celebrations. Participants competed in ten sports: athletics, aquatics, badminton, boxing, cycling, gymnastics, judo, lawn bowls, shooting and weightlifting. Netball and the

Triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the ...

were demonstration events. The main venue was the

Mount Smart Stadium Mount Smart Stadium (formerly known as Ericsson Stadium) is a multipurpose stadium in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the main home ground of the New Zealand Warriors of the National Rugby League, and occasionally hosts rugby union and internatio ...

Host selection

The Games were awarded to Auckland on 27 July 1984 at the Los Angeles Summer Olympics in the US.

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Australia, had withdrawn from the bid contest leaving

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House, ...

, India, as the sole opponent to Auckland's bid. New Delhi lost the hosting rights to Auckland by a margin of 1 vote, which made it the closest host selection vote in the history of Commonwealth Games

Opening ceremony

The opening of the games comprised a variety of events, including the arrival of

The Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

's representative The Prince Edward (her youngest son), the arrival of the Queen's Baton, and many

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

ceremonial stories. The Queens Baton was carried across the Auckland Harbour by the vessel "Ceduna". Baton, ceremonial (AM 2015

The opening ceremony itself started off with the

Choir singing the ''Song of Welcome''. Upon the arrival of The Prince Edward, the Māori in attendance, gave him a ''Challenge of a welcome''. This is conducted by a Māori placing a wooden baton on the ground. To see if the visitor comes in peace or not, the visitor must pick it up. The

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country ...

national anthem "

God Defend New Zealand "God Defend New Zealand" (, meaning 'New Zealand') is one of two national anthems of New Zealand, the other being "God Save the King". Legally the two have equal status, but "God Defend New Zealand" is more commonly used. Originally written as a ...

" was sung during a ceremonial fourteen gun salute from nearby One Tree Hill. This was followed by the

New Zealand Army , image = New Zealand Army Logo.png , image_size = 175px , caption = , start_date = , country = , branch = ...

Guard Commander allowing The Prince Edward to inspect the

guard of honour A guard of honour ( GB), also honor guard ( US), also ceremonial guard, is a group of people, usually military in nature, appointed to receive or guard a head of state or other dignitaries, the fallen in war, or to attend at state ceremonials, ...

. After which was the introduction of the participating countries of the Commonwealth,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

entering first as the hosts of the previous games, and

entering last as hosts. During the introduction of the countries, the choir would display the flag of the announced country with boards. When all the athletes finally sat down, the main Māori ceremonies began. First of the Māori ceremonies was all the Māori women performing a "Song of Welcome" for the athletes with the use of Poi. The Māori women then gave some of the athletes a

Hongi The traditional Māori greeting, the () is performed by two people pressing their noses together; some include, at the same time, the touching of foreheads. The greeting is used at traditional meetings among Māori people, and at major cerem ...

. Next was the Māori story of how New Zealand was formed according to legend; it a narration of how the

Polynesians Polynesians form an ethnolinguistic group of closely related people who are native to Polynesia (islands in the Polynesian Triangle), an expansive region of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. They trace their early prehistoric origins to Island South ...

found their way to what was to become New Zealand, and how New Zealand was formed between

Rangi and Papa In Māori mythology the primal couple Rangi and Papa (or Ranginui and Papatūānuku) appear in a creation myth explaining the origin of the world (though there are many different versions). In some South Island dialects, Rangi is called Raki or Ra ...

, the sky father and

earth mother A mother goddess is a goddess who represents a personified deification of motherhood, fertility goddess, fertility, creation, destruction, or the earth goddess who embodies the bounty of the earth or nature. When equated with the earth or t ...

. The story then moved on to the coming of religion and European migration. This was demonstrated with a formation of the

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

, to show the colonisation by the British.

Dame Whina Cooper Dame Whina Cooper (9 December 1895 – 26 March 1994) was a respected ( Māori elder), who worked for many years for the rights of her people, and particularly to improve the lot of Māori women. She is remembered for leading the 1975 Māori ...

then made a speech about the

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the History of New Zealand, history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in ...

signed in 1840 that brought about peace and stability of modern New Zealand. Introduction of the European communities was next with music and native dancing from European countries such as Italy,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Neth ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous c ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in 2 ...

and England, and music and native dancing also from Asian countries such as China,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. From here, many of the neighbouring

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Oce ...

s made their entrance with the rhythmic tempo of the Pacific Island drum beat. This was to show the then complete migration of people to New Zealand.

Howard Morrison Sir Howard Leslie Morrison (18 August 1935 – 24 September 2009) was a New Zealand entertainer. From 1964 until his death in 2009, he was one of New Zealand's leading television and concert performers. Early life Of Māori (Te Arawa), Iris ...

then lead New Zealand in singing the folk song Tukua-a-hau. After Morrison, the Queen's Baton arrived at the stadium where Prince Edward announced the opening of the games which was followed by the '' Athletes Pledge''. Fireworks followed and was capped off with a night time flyover by nine

A-4 Skyhawk The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a single-seat subsonic carrier-capable light attack aircraft developed for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps in the early 1950s. The delta-winged, single turbojet engined Skyhawk was designed an ...

jets of the

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeal ...

s 75 Squadron. The ceremony was concluded by the singing of the game's motto "This is the moment" as performers and athletes exited the stadium.

Closing ceremony

A more relaxed affair was held for the 14th Commonwealth Games closing ceremony, reflecting that of Christchurch in 1974. Attended by HM The Queen of New Zealand, formality and respect played their due part in the beginning with formal salute and the acceptance of the Commonwealth Games flag to the next host city,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seyche ...

, Canada. This was followed by a First Nations and modern Canadian dancing display. Next,thousands of children entered the stadium with a mass skipping rope demonstration, followed by the athletes. The Queen then made the traditional closing speech and called for all the Commonwealth's athletes to assemble in four years time in Victoria. As the evening wore on, opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa sang "Now is the Hour", a favourite New Zealand hymn, as the Royal New Zealand Air Force's A4 Skyhawks made one final swooping flyover of Mount Smart Stadium followed by fireworks. The Queen,

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, was a substantive title that has been created three times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produ ...

, and Prince Edward then exited the stadium standing in open top vehicles.

Mascot

The mascot of the games was Goldie, representing New Zealand's national symbol the

kiwi bird Kiwi ( ) are flightless birds endemic to New Zealand of the order Apterygiformes. The five extant species fall into the family Apterygidae () and genus ''Apteryx'' (). Approximately the size of a domestic chicken, kiwi are by far the smallest ...

Participating teams

55 teams were represented at the 1990 Games.
(Teams competing for the first time are shown in bold).

Medals by country

This is the full table of the medal count of the 1990 Commonwealth Games. These rankings sort by the number of gold medals earned by a country. The number of silvers is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze. If, after the above, countries are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically. This follows the system used by the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

and

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

. Figures from Commonwealth Games Foundation website.Past Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games Federation

Medals by event

*At these games, the

was a demonstration event; won by Erin Baker (women) and Rick Wells (men), both from New Zealand.

Aquatics

Athletics

Badminton

Bowls

Boxing

Cycling

Track

Road

Gymnastics

Artistic

Rhythmic

Judo

Shooting

Pistol

Rifle

Shotgun

Weightlifting

References

The Bateman New Zealand Encyclopedia

External links

Commonwealth Games Official Site
{{Portal bar, Sports, 1990s, New Zealand C Sports competitions in Auckland International sports competitions hosted by New Zealand Commonwealth Games in New Zealand Commonwealth Games by year

Gymnastics competitions in New Zealand January 1990 sports events in New Zealand February 1990 sports events in New Zealand 1990s in Auckland 1990 in New Zealand 1990s in New Zealand