The Commonwealth Games sports comprise all the sports officially recognised and approved by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF). There are a total of 31 approved sports, two multi-disciplinary sports, and a further 7 para-sports. Not all sports are competed at each edition of the Games as programmes must be limited to a maximum of 17 sports and a maximum 15 para-sports events.
At the 1930 British Empire Games, the precursor to the modern Games, there were six sports: athletics, aquatics (swimming and diving), boxing, lawn bowls, rowing and wrestling.
If a number of activities are controlled by the same international federation then the Commonwealth Games Federation recognises each activity as a discipline, which belongs to the respective sport. For example, aquatics, which is organised by the International Swimming Federation, is a sport at the Commonwealth Games that comprises four disciplines: swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water polo. Furthermore, the sport cycling also contains three separate disciplines: track, road, and mountain biking.
Sports and disciplines often feature separate events for which athletes can receive medals. For example, boxing has a number of weight divisions, gymnastics and diving have a number of styles, while athletics has numerous events based upon a wide range of activities.