Games are more than just Australia's domination

                                              
                                                                 Photo Source: smh.com.au

Im sure im not the only one who throughout some stage of the Commenwealth Games looked at the medal count and thought what a joke, is anyone going to challenge Australia?  Yes it was true Australia once again made a mockery of these games by dominating almost every aspect of every event from start to finish, obviously in the clear absence of many powerhouse nations.  However, Jack Kerr's article made me realise something else, it made me realise that the games are not only a chance to see Australia continue to dominate but rather pay attention to the ability of many smaller nations raise above themselves and reach heights they never would have thought possible.

Kerr's article focuses on specific memorable performances of nations like Samoa and Tonga who achieved great success.  The article is fairly well structured with Kerr clearly elaborating on specific achievements of these athletes although it may have been best to lead the story by highlighting Samoa's amazing weightlifting feat's which inevitably saw them walk away with not only their first ever gold medal but also their second and third as opposed to making reference to this towards the article's end.  Samoa's success is definitely the most appealing aspect of the article as within the space of 3 days the nation went from last on the medal count to 11th, yet Kerr saw this success as less newsworthy than other minnow nation competitors who merely achieved personal bests. 

Kerr's use of sources are not extensive as he only seeks the opinion of Samoa's Chief de mission Shelly Birch, however her quote about the prime minister's jubilation is definitely effective in giving the reader insight into how much it means to such a small island nation.  Kerr could have added to the quality of the article by gaining a comment from any of the athletes he mentions in particularly the gold medal winning weightlifter's from Samoa. 

Despite a few deficiencies the author did produce fair online article that touches on a different and refreshing aspect of the games with a good portrayal of certain characters that are far from household names in Australia. 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/14/3038514.htm?site=thedrum