Since the Commonwealth Games were first staged in Hamilton, Canada in 1930, Australia has won more medals than any other nation and topped the medal tally 13 times. No other country comes close.
The country’s success on a global stage is no fluke. Australia invests heavily in every level of sport, from grassroots participation programs to talent identification schemes, although many would argue that investment in real terms has been sliding and if we are to retain our ‘punching above our weight’ reputation, there needs to be an increase.
But Australia does boast top-notch coaches, world-class facilities, and hosts more than its fair share of world cup and championship events.
When world and Olympic champion swimmer Cate Campbell addressed international swimming delegates at June’s FINA congress, her speech centred on what she described as a cornerstone of sport — “fairness”.
Campbell was speaking specifically about elite competition, citing fairness as the reason transgender swimmers should be banned from competing in women’s events.
She won widespread applause in swimming circles and from other advocates against the inclusion of trans women.
And yet, along with that other well-worn sports cliché of the “level playing field”, fairness in sport seems to be in the eye of the beholder, as a quick comparison of two countries competing at the Commonwealth Games shows.
Australia, Malawi and the resourcing of fairness
As young girls, Cate Campbell and her medal-winning sister Bronte relocated with their family to Brisbane from the small, landlocked African nation of Malawi. They were taken by their parents to join the local swimming club as a way of integrating into the Australian community.
Now Australian, the sisters have taken a break from swimming, electing to miss the 2022 Commonwealth Games while one of Malawi’s most credentialled swimmers, Tayamika Chang’anamuno, wanted to be in Birmingham this week but was dropped from the nation’s small swim team of three because they could only afford to take two.
While Cate interrupted her holiday to address world swimming’s governing body and remind them of the importance of fairness, Chang’anamuno was setting a personal best in the pool at the world championships.
Her time of 30.81 in the women’s 50 metres freestyle was the fastest she had ever swum, finishing in 72nd position, good enough to make the news in Malawi.
“I am excited about them [the Commonwealth Games], even though I’m not participating in them … but I’m excited to watch my teammates participate in them,” Chang’anamuno told The Ticket.
Malawi is about half the size of Victoria but with a population fast approaching that of Australia. It is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a median age of just 16.
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There are no publicly available indoor swimming pools, making training impossible during the winter.
There is not a single Olympic-size 50m pool, although the government is allegedly constructing one at a cost of 9 billion Malawian Kwacha, the equivalent of $12 million.
It is extraordinarily expensive for a country where half the population lives under the poverty line.
When questioned about the amount, government officials told local media the International Olympic Committee was funding it, a claim the IOC has denied.
Meanwhile, FINA’s suggestion of keeping the sport fair is to have an “open” category for transgender women.
Bronte Campbell told ABC Sport the issue is “very complicated”.
“You have to balance a community that has been incredibly marginalised and they’re a very vulnerable community,” she said.
“Taking a first step is good, but making sure we are engaging with that community as we move forward is also really important.”
Bronte admitted she had never competed against a transgender swimmer, nor spoken to one, but said it is good the discussion is happening.
“I’ve never come across one in the sport yet, but I know that maybe that’s because there wasn’t a space for them … so being able to create that is also important,” she said.
While swimmers from Malawi are rare, It is unlikely there will ever be a transgender swimmer from Malawi since being transgender is against the law, leading to jail time and corporal punishment.
Bronte Campbell remembers living in Malawi but was unaware of the treatment of the LGBTQI+ community in a country where 77.3 per cent of the population is Christian, and 13.8 per cent is Muslim.
“That’s why it’s so important to make sure it’s a fair policy,” she said.
Privilege and fairness in an unfair world
How do you measure what is fair? And who gets to set the parameters?
Australia has won 936 gold medals, 777 silver medals, and 713 bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games, for a total of 2,426.
Almost a third of them came from swimming, almost a quarter from athletics. Here’s a question for your next family trivia quiz – name a sport Australia has not medalled in at the Commonwealth games.
Malawi has competed at every Commonwealth Games since Edinburgh in 1970. They have won three medals, all bronze, all in men’s boxing.
While Australians will be torn in having to choose one event over another in order to cheer on each of its athletes contesting the latest medal-a-thon, Malawi is pinning its hopes on its netball team, the Malawi Queens, currently ranked seventh in the world.
One of its top players is Mwai Kumwenda, a premiership shooter for the Melbourne Vixens in Super Netball, the world’s most competitive league. Back in Malawi there is not a single professional-grade court.
Kumwenda was the top scorer at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014. The Queens have twice finished fifth at the Games, just short of the bronze medal match. This might be their year.
Alongside the 12 members of the netball team in Birmingham are three track-and-field athletes, two judo competitors, three boxers and two swimmers. Accompanying the 22 athletes will be almost as many officials.
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