5,000 competitors The Commonwealth Games include over 5,000 participants competing in over 15 different sports and over 250 events. The first, second, and third place finishers in each event get gold, silver, and bronze Commonwealth Games medals, respectively. In addition to the official events, there are also popular events such as a marathon, half-marathon, and cycle race that attract large numbers of spectators. Only athletes who represent their country at junior level can participate in the games. However, if an athlete wins a medal while representing another country, they are allowed to keep the medal. So long as they do not do so for all countries, they are only required to return their gold medal should they want to be eligible to compete in the next games. The number of athletes has been declining since 1994 when 4,715 athletes competed. This year's games will have a total of 3,921 athletes from 71 countries. Almost one in five athletes at these games is from India. This year's games will feature 627 Indian athletes in 23 sports. They are expected to win around 170 medals including 40 gold medals. India has won most gold medals at the games with 31.