In spite of this , a number of Olympic champions and other prominent names were selected to compete , including Australian Olympic/World champion Steve Hooker and New Zealand 's Olympic/World Champion Valerie Adams , top Kenyan runners Nancy Langat , Vivian Cheruiyot and Ezekiel Kemboi , Bahamian high jumper Donald Thomas , and South Africa 's Commonwealth champions L.J. van Zyl and Sunette Viljoen . Former world record holder Steve Cram emphasised the Games ' role in developing younger athletes : " That 's what it was for me , at 17 years old I went to the Commonwealth Games because Coe and Ovett did n't go . Nobody at the time was telling me it was bad that Coe and Ovett were n't there . " The stadium 's track and field was damaged during the opening ceremony and major works – including the re-laying of the tarmac on the track and grass on the infield – took place in the 24 hours leading up to the first day of athletics events at the stadium . Three training venues were allocated for the athletics events : the Commonwealth Games Village 2010 , Thyagaraj Sports Complex and the Delhi University sports complex
opening ceremony
2010 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony
Athletics at the 2010 Commonwealth Games