Today marks the start of the Commonwealth Games, so all eyes are on Birmingham.
Tens of thousands of spectators have also descended on the city to watch the competition, together with athletes from all around the world.
But the British Empire Games, as the event was then known, were the first to be staged in the UK in August 1934.
It was primarily held at Shepherd’s Bush, West London, in the White City stadium, which had previously played home to the 1908 Olympics.
At the specially built Empire Swimming Pool in north-west London, which is now Wembley Arena, other events were held.
Beautiful images capture the competition as well as the days before it, when athletes rested and trained.
Three female competitors are seen concentrating intently as they compete in the 80-meter hurdles in another photograph, while Indian wrestlers are seen sparring outside the pool at Wembley in another.
Tens of thousands of onlookers observed.
On August 4, the games at White City Stadium began.
A crowd of 50,000 people gathered to watch 600 competitors march around the arena in the bright sun before 40,000 pigeons were let loose.
The 14-year-old South African athlete was the youngest competitor, and the 45-year-old Canadian hammer thrower from Newfoundland was the oldest.
At the time, the British Empire included all rival nations, including Canada, Australia, South Africa, Jamaica, and India.
By the time the competition came to a finish on August 11, England had won 73 medals, including 29 gold, 20 silver, and 24 bronze.
Originally scheduled to take place in South Africa, the 1934 British Empire Games were moved to London after South African officials announced that black and Asian athletes would not be permitted to compete.
London had barely 18 months to prepare for the event once it was revealed that it would be the host city in February 1933.
Famous engineer Sir Owen Williams created Wembley’s Empire Pool as a prelude, and construction was finished in July 1934.
There were competitors from 16 different countries and territories, however the only sports in which women competed were aquatics and athletics.
In contrast, there are more events for women than men at this year’s Birmingham Games.
The 1934 timings that women set were new marks because they did not compete in any events at the 1930 Canadian Empire Games.
The Daily Mail reported on the inaugural ceremony at the time, saying: “On Saturday, 50,000 spectators and 40,000 pigeons watched the inauguration of the Empire Games at the White City, the largest athletics festival in this country since 1908.
“The visitors payed to enter.” The pigeons were let loose from many baskets for their own “Empire Game.”
They observed that while the audience was ‘considerably restless’ during the speeches, each squad of athletes had’something special to identify it’.
William Colfield, who had been throwing hammers for more than 20 years and was 45, was the oldest contestant.
The youngest was South African backstroke champion swimmer Molly Ryde, age 14.
Ajaib Singh, an Indian wrestler, was described as being “extremely proud of his lengthy beard” and wearing his hair “neatly coiled on top of his head” by The Daily Mail.
Miss O. Whitsitt, a female diver from South Africa, smoked cigarettes in between calming herself down tries.
In 1952, the games’ name underwent its first change, becoming the British Empire and Commonwealth Games.
The term “empire” was then completely abandoned in 1970. It was last seen at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1966, which took place in Kingston, Jamaica.