Excitement is mounting among England athletes as the countdown to the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games reaches the ‘100 days to go’ point today (Friday).
 
England is expecting to take a team of around 575 athletes and support staff to Delhi for the XIX Commonwealth Games – the biggest England team to travel to an overseas Commonwealth Games.
 
To date 55 athletes have been selected for the England team for Delhi across the sports of archery, athletics, aquatics and lawn bowls. Double Olympic gold medal winning swimmer Rebecca Adlington and world champion swimmer Liam Tancock are among athletes selected.
 
Adlington said she can’t wait to compete at the Games. She said: “I have never competed at the Commonwealth Games before, and I can’t wait to fly out to Delhi!

“With all the Home Nations being separately represented, it will give many British athletes the chance to experience a multi-sport event less than two years before the London Olympics, which may be invaluable come 2012.
 
“I’m also looking forward to experiencing the Indian culture, as it will be the first time I have travelled to India.”
 
The team also features Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games gold medallist Danielle Brown, who is a member of England’s archery team for Delhi. She is thought to be the first Paralympian to represent England in an able-bodied competition at a Commonwealth Games.
 
Danielle’s selection for Delhi was announced yesterday (Thursday) and today she said: “I’m really excited about competing in Delhi, it hasn’t really sunk in yet. I wasn’t really expecting to go and it was fantastic to be selected. I’m training full-time now and I’m going to go there and do my best.”
 
Further team selections are imminent across a range of sports, including shooting and weightlifting. Badminton and squash selections are likely mid-July, with the bulk of the athletics team and boxing set to be announced early in August and with the remaining aquatics athletes and the cycling team due for selection late August.
 
Dame Kelly Holmes, President of Commonwealth Games England, double Olympic gold medallist and three times Commonwealth Games medallist, said: “Excitement within the England Team is growing as we pass the 100 days to go marker. England is ambitious to do well again at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi and to make the nation proud of our team.  
 
“As President of CGE I will be working hard with the staff and other officials to ensure that we create the best possible platform for English success at the Games. As a former athlete I know that these things matter. We want to ensure, too, that the athletes have a great experience and the opportunity to learn from the multi-sport environment so that they can thrive in London 2012 and onwards to the next Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.”
 
Craig Hunter, England’s Chef de Mission, added: “We’re just 100 days away from Delhi now and there’s a real and very tangible sense of excitement about the Games.
 
“I’m sure this will continue to grow as the competition to qualify for places on the team intensifies over the coming weeks.”
 
 
Athletes selected for the England team to date:
 
Archery:
 
Danielle Brown (Lothersdale, West Yorkshire), Duncan Busby (Heswall, Wirral), Naomi Folkard (Kidderminster, Worcestershire), Larry Godfrey (Bristol), Liam Grimwood (Moreton, Wirral), Nicky Hunt (Ipswich), Amy Oliver (Sheffield), Nichola Simpson (Oxford), Simon Terry (Grantham, Lincolnshire), Chris White (Rugby), Alison Williamson (Stafford), Alan Wills (Frizington, Cumbria)  
 
Aquatics (swimming):
Rebecca Adlington (Nottingham), Rebecca Ajula-Bushell (Plymouth), Robert Bale (Loughborough/Lancaster), Adam Brown (Sandy, Bedfordshire), Simon Burnett (Tucson, Arizona, USA/Oxfordshire), Ross Davenport (Loughborough/Derby), Daniel Fogg (Loughborough/Chingford, London), Ellen Gandy (Melbourne, Australia), James Goddard (Stockport), Francesca Halsall (Southport, Lancashire), Jo Jackson (Loughborough), Sasha Matthews (Nottingham), Thomas Parris (Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex), Roberto Pavoni (Loughborough/Brentwood, Essex), Keri-Anne Payne (Manchester), Michael Rock (Stockport/Liverpool), James Roebuck (Loughborough/Sheffield), Elizabeth Simmonds (Loughborough/Lincoln), Amy Smith (Loughborough/Kidderminster), Gemma Spofforth (Florida, USA/Arundel, West Sussex), Jess Sylvester (Derby/Stoke-on-Trent), Stacey Tadd (Radstock, near Bath, Somerset), Liam Tancock (Exeter), Becki Turner (Rotherham), Grant Turner (Loughborough/Swindon), Chris Walker-Hebborn (Bath/Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk), Richard Webb (Chipping Sodbury, near Bristol/Yate), Aimee Willmott (Middlesbrough), Katherine Wyld (Nottingham/Guildford)
 
Athletics:  
Helen Decker (Ipswich), Johanna Jackson (Redcar, Cleveland), Andi Jones (Stalybridge, Cheshire)
 
Lawn bowls:
Stuart Airey (Carlisle), Mark Bantock (Jordans, Buckinghamshire), Ellen Falkner (Cambridge), Sian Gordon (Whitstable, Kent), Sandy Hazell (Maidstone, Kent), Mervyn King (Fakenham, Norfolk), Natalie Melmore (Newton Abbott, Devon), Amy Monkhouse (Grimsby), Robert Newman (Reading), Graham Shadwell (Trowbridge, Wiltshire), Sam Tolchard (Paignton, Devon), Jamie-Lea Winch (Rugby).
 
The 2010 Commonwealth Games take place in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 2010. They will feature 17 sports - archery, aquatics (swimming, synchronised swimming & diving), athletics, badminton, boxing, cycling, gymnastics, hockey, lawn bowls, netball, rugby 7s, shooting, squash, table tennis, tennis, weightlifting and wrestling. With the 2012 Olympic Games in London and the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Commonwealth Games England is entering a breath-taking four years of sport.

Commonwealth Games England (GCE) is the organisation responsible for selecting and organising England's team at the Commonwealth Games.   England finished second to Australia on the medal table at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games with 36 golds, 40 silvers and 34 bronzes.

Sport England is responsible for building the foundations of sporting success, by creating a world-leading community sport system of clubs, coaches, facilities and volunteers. Their focus is growing and sustaining the numbers of people taking part in sport and improving talent development to help more people excel.
 

For further information about Commonwealth Games England please contact the Commonwealth Games England press office at Matchtight Ltd on 07765 071683 or 07831 755351 or see the CGE’s website at www.weareengland.org <http://www.weareengland.org>