From triathlete Lauren Parker, paralysed less than 12 months ago, to swimmer Chad le Clos, aiming to become the most decorated male Commonwealths competitor of all time, there are compelling stories to follow among the global names competing on the Gold Coast.
There is also a double Olympic champion aiming to break the oldest track world record and a boxer whose two brothers – one of them a Commonwealth boxing medallist – died in a car accident before she was born.
We have taken a look at some of the big names who will be in action in Australia…
Athletics
Sally Pearson (Australia)
There is usually a poster girl or boy at a major championships and on the Gold Coast that title belongs to Sally Pearson, the London 2012 Olympic 100m hurdles champion and two-time world and Commonwealth gold medallist.
Pearson, who spent most of her childhood in Queensland, overcame three injury-riddled years to take a shock World Championship gold in London last summer. She was tweeted by actor Russell Crowe on Wednesday, who, in the wake of Australia’s cricket ball-tampering scandal, wrote: “Come on Sally Pearson, you can do it. We need you Sally. Heroes are hard to find around these parts these days.”
No pressure, then.
Elaine Thompson (Jamaica)
Usain Bolt may have retired but Jamaica still has an Olympic champion sprinter on the world stage.
Elaine Thompson joined the list of athletics greats when she achieved the 100m and 200m sprint double at Rio 2016. However, in the 2017 World Championships the 25-year-old only managed fifth in the 100m final after a poor start.
Thompson says she is using the Commonwealth Games to prepare for the Diamond League this summer and will only run in the 200m and 4x100m relay on the Gold Coast.
Women’s 200m final: 12 April; 4x100m final: 14 April
Caster Semenya (South Africa)
Could South Africa’s most decorated athlete break the oldest track world record on the Gold Coast?
Caster Semenya is hot favourite to achieve the 800m and 1500m double in Australia, and has set herself a target in 2018 of bettering Jarmila Kratochvilova’s 1983 800m mark of one minute 53.28 seconds.
The 27-year-old double Olympic champion and triple world champion is competing in her first Commonwealths having missed Delhi 2010 and Glasgow 2014 because of injuries.
Women’s 1500m final: 10 April; 800m final: 13 April
Valerie Adams (New Zealand)
This could be the final Games for one its most successful athletes.
New Zealand’s Valerie Adams arrives on the Gold Coast as the three-time Commonwealth shot put champion.
She also arrives having given birth to her daughter Kimoana only six months ago.
The 33-year-old double Olympic gold medallist and four-time world champion recently said: “It will definitely make the moment more special to win a medal with my daughter.”
Women’s shot put final: 13 April
Issac Makwala (Botswana)
One athlete who commanded almost as many headlines as Usain Bolt at the 2017 World Championships was Isaac Makwala.
The 31-year-old was strongly fancied to win a medal in London but was prevented from competing in the 400m final because he was suspected of having norovirus, and was initially deemed unfit for the 200m heats too. However, the Botswana sprinter recovered to qualify for the semis by competing in an individual time trial, before eventually finishing sixth in the final. It was a saga that will live long in the memory.
Makwala will compete only in the 400m, an event in which he was eliminated at the semi-final stage four years ago, and he said: “Scotland was too cold for me. I thought I could race to get a medal, but I don’t perform well in that kind of weather. Australia should suit me better.”
Men’s 400m final: 10 April
Source: BBC
