2018 Commonwealth Games: Why do England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales compete separately and not as Great Britain?

THE Commonwealth Games take place every four years - this year the Gold Coast in Australia is hosting this colossal event between April 4 to 15.

More than 6,600 athletes and team officials from 70 nations and territories will gather to contest 18 sports and seven para-sports.

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Contestants like Olympic gold medallist Adam Peaty compete as England  - they are not part of A Team GB.

So why is that?

At the Commonwealth Games we split into home nations for the same reason we do it in most sports... tradition.

At the Olympics you have to be a sovereign state to enter, so we can only enter as Great Britain.

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Also, the original Empire Games was designed to be a competition within the Empire, so it made sense for each colony and home nation to have its own team.

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What is the Commonwealth?

The Commonwealth is a collection of countries that are linked in some way to Great Britain, all apart from Mozambique.

All 53 members have signed up to a set of values including democracy, gender equality and international peace and security.

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 Tell me about the England team?

England travel with more than 400 athletes.

You can follow their progress on the BBC throughout the Games including the opening ceremony on Wednesday, April 4.

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