Victoria Park in Royal Leamington Spa will feature the largest lawn bowls line-up in Commonwealth Games history following the announcement of the medal event programme for Birmingham 2022.
The Games will make global sporting history by becoming the first ever major multi-sport event to award more medals to women than men. There will be an equal number of male and female medallists in Lawn Bowls, a sport proud of its intrinsic accessibility.
The medal event programme, published today, confirms there will be 136 medal events for women and 134 for men with a total of 11 lawn bowls medal events – singles, pairs, triples, fours and para pairs for both genders plus a visually impaired mixed pairs. In total 78 medals will be presented across the Lawn Bowls disciplines, 39 to both men and women.
It is hoped the changes made to the Para Lawn Bowls competition will inspire more women with disabilities give the sport a go, one of many ambitions to leverage Birmingham 2022 to get more people playing bowls.
England’s Natalie Chestney, who won the women’s singles gold medal at Delhi in 2010 and is bidding for success in 2022 with Team England, said: “I’m proud that Birmingham 2022 provides women’s sport such a huge platform. The Lawn Bowls programme in particular shows just how inclusive and accessible our sport is, and our ambition is to inspire current and future participants to follow in our footsteps.”
The Lawn Bowls events will run for nine consecutive days at Victoria Park from Friday 29th July to Saturday 6th August inclusive.
Ian Reid, CEO of Birmingham 2022, said: “Our event programme has been specifically designed to reach new audiences and champion the growth of women’s sport. I am certain that fans will come in their droves to cheer on the most diverse range of events ever held at a Commonwealth Games, showcasing more female and para athletes than ever before.”
The Birmingham 2022 medals milestone is being marked today (Wednesday 21st October) with a day of special talks entitled “It’s Our Time”, broadcast on the Birmingham 2022 Facebook and LinkedIn pages featuring past, present and future stars of British sport.
Across the day, they will discuss the role of women’s sport in striving for equality, what Birmingham 2022 is doing to advance the profile of women’s and para sport, and what still needs to be done to ensure equal representation in the industry.
Head to Birmingham 2022’s Facebook page to tune in
Notes to editors:
• The medal event programme is correct as of October 2020 but is subject to change
• The daily schedule for Birmingham 2022, outlining which sports will be held on each of the 11 days of competition, was revealed last week and is available to view at www.birmingham2022.com