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Host city | Kuala Lumpur | ||
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Country | Malaysia | ||
Motto |
Bersama-sama Gemilangkannya (Together we'll glorify this moment) |
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Nations participating | 69 | ||
Athletes participating | 3638 | ||
Events | 214 in 15 sports | ||
Opening ceremony | 11 September 1998 | ||
Closing ceremony | 21 September 1998 | ||
Officially opened by | Prime Minister of Malaysia Mahathir Mohamad | ||
Officially closed by | Elizabeth II | ||
Athlete's Oath | Shalin Zulkifli | ||
Queen's Baton Final Runner | Koh Eng Tong | ||
Main venue | National Stadium, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | ||
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The 1998 XVI Commonwealth Games were held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 11 to 21 September 1998. The 1998 games were the first held in an Asian country and the last Commonwealth Games of the 20th century. This was also the first time the games took place in a country with a head of state other than the Head of the Commonwealth. A record 69 nations (34 of which collected medals) competed, with 3,638 athletes participating. For the first time ever, the games included team sports.
The other bid from the 1998 games came from Adelaide in Australia.
69 teams were represented at the 1998 Games.
(Teams competing for the first time are shown in bold).
The 16th Commonwealth Games opening ceremony took place on 11 September 1998 at 17:30 MST (UTC+08:00). Contrary to tradition, the games were not officially opened by the Malaysian head of state, Yang di Pertuan Agong Tuanku Jaafar because he was unable to arrive to the stadium in time. Instead, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, opened the games. The venue for the opening and closing ceremonies was the newly built National Stadium Bukit Jalil, a 100,000-spectator capacity stadium. The theme song "Malaysiaku Gemilang" was sung by Malaysian pop singers Norzila Binti Haji Aminuddin, Shahrul Anuar Zain, Siti Roziana Binti Zain, Shaheila binti Abdul Majid, Amy Mastura Binti Suhaimi, Ning Baizura binti Sheikh Hamzah, and Siti Nurhaliza Binti Tarudin—and many other Malaysian singers also performed. The games featured 15 sports with 3638 athletes as 69 teams were represented.