Archive - Mar 15, 2006 - Story

Over 80 000 people filled the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) to watch the Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony on March 15.
Dignitaries, including Prime Minister John Howard, Victorian Premier Steve Bracks and Prince Edward were welcomed to the event, before the arrival in a black Rolls Royce of the guest of honour, Queen Elizabeth II accompanied by Prince Philip.

By Glenn Howard, president of the Namibian Cycling Federation

A very successful final preparation for the Commonwealth Games started with a 2nd and a 5th position at the Boschendal Argus Mountain Bike race over 55km for Marc Bassingtwaighte and Ermin van Wyk respectively. Both riders were in the leading bunch of the race, but both experienced punctures in the first 15km and fell back to about 15th position. With extreme effort and fighting spirit they managed to ride themselves back into the front bunch and went on to achieve remarkable results.