A little bit s**t or nah?

Quite recently Usain Bolt has made the headlines not for his exploits on the track, but rather for something he "might" have said concerning the just ended Commonwealth games in Glasgow.

According to The Times , the world’s fastest man unleashed a thunderbolt of a statement before leaving the athletes village , saying the games are “a bit s**t” and “the Olympics were better”.

Even though Bolt has come out to deny ever making the statement, i couldn't help but wonder if there was any truth to the statement. Are the Games really below par and not entertaining?

So i did a little bit of digging and compared the winning times of both Glasgow 2014 and London 2012, determining where the Commonwealth Games champions would have placed at the Olympics. The results were staggering!

In some rare instances, athletes performed better at the Commonwealth Games. Australian runner Emma Jackson, who came fifth in the triathlon, would have won an Olympic gold medal with the same time in London. For the most part, however, the results at these Games are far less impressive.

Kemar Bailey-Cole, who won the men’s 100m sprint with a time of 10 seconds flat on Tuesday morning, would have come eighth in London. In the final, he only would have beaten compatriot Asafa Powell, who slowed down after injuring his groin. the five fastest men from that race — Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay and Ryan Bailey — were all missing from the event in Glasgow.

In the women's 100m event, Blessing Okagbare (Nigeria) with a time of 10.85 would have come equal fourth in London, alongside American sprinter Tianna Madison. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jamaica) won with a time of 10.75

In the Men's 110m hurdles, Olympic champ Aries Merritt crossed the line in 12.92secs with Commonwealth champion Andrew Riley (Jamaica), finishing with a time of 13.32. He would have come fourth at the Olympics.

Stephanie McPherson (Jamaica) won the 400m in the Commonwealth games with a time of 50.67. She would have come eighth at the Olympics behind Sanya Richards-Ross (USA)  with a time of 49.55secs.

The men's 400m was won by the same man in both the Olympics and Commonwealth games. Grenada's Kirani James set a new Commonwealth games record of 44.24secs. He would have placed second to himself in the Olympics (43.94), battling with  Luguelín Santos (44.46) of the Dominican Republic for second place.

In the women's Triathlon though, Nicola Spirig (Switzerland), won in a time of 1:59:48. Australia’s Emma Jackson came fifth at the Commonwealth Games, but her time would have won a gold medal in London. England's Jodie Stimpson won the event in the Commonwealth games with a time of 1:58:56

There’s only one conclusion. Many athletes who have won gold in the absence of nations such as China, Russia and the United States would have missed out on medals altogether if they’d posted identical times in London.

Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games begin at Celtic Park

                                          The Loch Ness Monster takes centre stage

The 20th Commonwealth Games kicked off to a spectacular opening ceremony in front of 40,000 people at Celtic Park in Glasgow. 71 nations, who will compete across 17 sports over the next 11 days, witnessed an electrifying atmosphere when Glasgow put together a good show on Wednesday night.

While world-renowned Scottish singers Rod Stewart and Susan Boyle performed live at the ceremony, at the same time six-time Olympic champion Chris Hoy also made an appearance at the home of Celtic Football Club.

The Queen officially opened the games before a 40,000-strong crowd in Glasgow's Celtic Park with millions more expected to watch on television. The Queen declared the Games open by reading her own message from inside the Commonwealth baton.

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond paid tribute to the victims of the crashed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 shot down over Ukraine last week, leading a silence before welcoming the participating nations to the Games in English and Gaelic. The Malaysian team wore black armbands as a tribute to those who lost their lives.

Thousands of athletes from 71 nations and territories took part. They entered the stadium after the live show, which had a cast of around 2,000.

India, the hosts of the previous Games in Delhi in 2010, were the first team to enter the arena and received a warm welcome. The remainder of the competing nations arrived according to geographical region.

Ghana was the third African country to enter the arena led by sprint queen Janet Amponsah and would be competing in eleven disciplines including shooting in the eleven-day event.

The loudest reception of the night was reserved for the host nation Scotland, who paraded into Celtic Park last, according to Games tradition.

The opening ceremony was also available live on Youtube, for the first time in any Common Wealth Games.

The Games will feature 17 sports beginning on Thursday. The closing ceremony will take place at Hampden Park on the south side of the city, which has been transformed into an athletics venue, on 3 August.

Team Ghana to buy sports equipment for Commonwealth games in Glasgow

Sports Minister Mahama Ayariga has revealed that Ghana’s team for the Commonwealth Games will have to buy its equipment in Scotland ahead of the event which begins on the 23rd of July.

He explained that the procedure to execute the purchase of equipment delayed and the Ministry has now been forced to make funds available for the athletes to get their equipment and get ready for the event.

Addressing the contingent on Monday in Ayrshire, Scotland when he paid them a visit, the Minister explained “I can see that you are being taken care of well but as you aware, there a few issues with your equipment. When I took office as Minister, we had a problem of late procurement of the equipment. The people at the Ministry asked me to approve of the purchase from the UK to Ghana before sending them to you here in Scotland."

However, I said the team was already in the UK so there was no need in sending their equipment to Ghana first. I have arranged with the Ghana High Commission so we will transfer the moneys to them and soon, you will have the money to go and individually buy what you need from the shops here.”

It was expected, by the time of the Minister’s visit to the team, that the kits for the athletes would arrive by either Monday or Tuesday.

The Minister also revealed that monies meant for the preparation of local athletes were ready and they would be given to the athletes upon their return to Ghana after the Games, which starts on the 23rd of July and finishes on the 3rd of August.

He also urged the athletes to do their best for Ghana and try to win a few medals to make the nation proud.