Commonwealth Games ‘Birmingham forever’: Ozzy Osbourne's epic handover to Victoria 2026

News Network | London, U.K. The Commonwealth Games are officially closed, after Australia topped the medal tally and took centre stage at a barnstorming farewell. The 2022 Commonwealth Games drew to a close on Monday with a ceremony showcasing Birmingham and the West Midlands to the world. The closing ceremony at the Alexander Stadium opened with a huge chimney towering above the stage, in a performance paying tribute to the city’s industrial past as the ‘engine room of England’, drawing on a labour force from across the Commonwealth. The event celebrated many of Birmingham’s best-known cultural exports, with Dexys Midnight Runners performing their 1982 hit “Come On Eileen”, while the crowd of 30,000 were also treated to a sneak preview of the upcoming Peaky Blinders stage show. Brummie native Laura Mvula delivered a standout performance of an original song inspired by the period drama’s theme tune, adding: “I feel really chuffed for Birmingham because, generally, Birmingham has tended to get a bad rep. What I love about Peaky Blinders, is that they have made the Birmingham accent golden again.” The ceremony – which marks the end of the two-week sporting celebration in the city featuring 4,500 athletes from across the Commonwealth – shone the spotlight firmly onto West Midlands’s cultural exports, with performers including Wolverhampton’s Beverley Knight, Walsall’s Jorja Smith, and Brummie pop band UB40. The Earl of Wessex drew the Games to a close, overseeing a formal handover to the state of Victoria, Australia, which is set to host the next Commonwealth Games in 2016. In a first for the games, Indigenous Australian leaders handed message sticks inviting organisers in for 2026, before participating in a culturally-significant smoking ceremony. Chief Creative Officer of Birmingham 2022, Martin Green CBE said: “With this Closing Ceremony, we wanted to create a spectacular line-up of global artists from the West Midlands for an exhilarating musical production to conclude an unforgettable 11 days of sport and culture. “The medley of high-octane performances will celebrate the vibrant energy and cultural heritage of this incredible city, as we bring these spectacular home Games to a fitting end.” Zoe Snow and Gary Beestone, executive producers of the closing ceremony, said: “Bringing together world-class ceremonies creatives and fresh new and ground-breaking talent has been a joy. We hope we’ve done Brum proud and are grateful to every single person that joined us on this journey.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “The past 11 days have been a shining example of the power of sport in strengthening the ties between our unique partnership of Commonwealth nations. “I’d like to thank the brilliant volunteers, the roaring crowds and every athlete who has dived, hurdled or wrestled their way to victory for making these Commonwealth Games the best yet. “And I am particularly proud of the city of Birmingham for being fantastic first-time hosts and welcoming our Commonwealth friends with open arms – cementing the UK’s well-deserved reputation for hosting major sporting events on the global stage. “The success of Birmingham 2022 will be measured not only in medals won or records broken, but also by the number of people inspired to take up sport as a result, and who will be able to thanks to this Government’s massive investment in grassroots sport in recent years. “And when the athletes fly home and the banners come down, it’s the people of the West Midlands who will reap the rewards from the lasting economic legacy these Games have secured that will drive trade, jobs and growth across the region for a generation to come.” Commonwealth Games medal table

RANK	COUNTRY	GOLD	SILVER	BRONZE	TOTAL
1	Australia	67	57	54	178
2	England	57	66	53	176
3	Canada	26	32	34	92
4	India	22	16	23	61
5	New Zealand	20	12	17	49
6	Scotland	13	11	27	51
7	Nigeria	12	9	14	35
8	Wales	8	6	14	28
9	South Africa	7	9	11	27
10	Malaysia	7	8	8	23
11	Northern Ireland	7	7	4	18
12	Jamaica	6	6	3	15
13	Kenya	6	5	10	21
14	Singapore	4	4	4	12
15	Trinidad and Tobago	3	1	1	6
16	Uganda	3	0	2	5
17	Cyprus	2	3	6	11
18	Pakistan	2	3	3	8
19	Samoa	1	4	0	5
20=	Barbados	1	1	1	3
20=	Cameroon	1	1	1	3
20=	Zambia	1	1	1	3
23=	Grenada	1	1	0	2
23=	Bahamas	1	1	0	2
25	Bermuda	1	0	1	2
26	British Virgin Islands	1	0	0	1
27	Mauritius	0	3	2	5
28	Ghana	0	2	3	5
29	Fiji	0	2	2	4
30	Mozambique	0	2	1	3
31	Sri Lanka	0	1	3	4
32	Tanzania	0	1	2	3
33=	Botswana	0	1	1	2
33=	Guernsey	0	1	1	2
35=	Dominica	0	1	0	1
35=	Papua New Guinea	0	1	0	1
35=	St. Lucia	0	1	0	1
35=	The Gambia	0	1	0	1
39	Namibia	0	0	4	4
40=	Malta	0	0	1	1
40=	Niue	0	0	1	1
40=	Nauru	0	0	1	1
40=	Vanuatu	0	0	1	1
44=	Anguilla	0	0	0	0
	Antigua and Barbuda	0	0	0	0
	Bangladesh	0	0	0	0
	Belize	0	0	0	0
	Brunei	0	0	0	0
	Cayman Islands	0	0	0	0
	Cook Islands	0	0	0	0
	Eswatini	0	0	0	0
	Guyana	0	0	0	0
	Isle of Man	0	0	0	0
	Jersey	0	0	0	0
	Kiribati	0	0	0	0
	Lesotho	0	0	0	0
	Malawi	0	0	0	0
	Maldives	0	0	0	0
	Montserrat	0	0	0	0
	Norfolk Island	0	0	0	0
	Rwanda	0	0	0	0
	Saint Helena	0	0	0	0
	Saint Kitts and Nevis	0	0	0	0
	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	0	0	0	0
	Seychelles	0	0	0	0
	Sierra Leone	0	0	0	0
	Solomon Islands	0	0	0	0
	Swaziland	0	0	0	0
	Tonga	0	0	0	0
	Turks and Caicos Islands	0	0	0	0
	Tuvalu	0	0	0	0

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