The
2002 Commonwealth Games, officially the
XVII Commonwealth Games were held in
Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coincide with the
Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II, head of the
Commonwealth, and Manchester was selected for the 2002 Games ahead of
London. The XVII
Commonwealth Games was, prior to the
2012 Summer Olympics, the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in the UK, eclipsing the London
1948 Summer Olympics in numbers of teams and athletes participating. In terms of sports and events, the 2002 games were the largest Commonwealth Games in history featuring 281 events across 17 sports.