BOLTON will play a major role from day one of the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Details of the latest timetable for the Manchester Games were presented to Bolton councillors.

It shows that the cycling events which will be held around Rivington will start on the first competitive day of the Games on Friday, July 26, 2002.

The opening ceremony will be the previous day in the Commonwealth Games stadium in Manchester.

There will be three cycling events in the Bolton area mountain biking, road racing and time trials.

Heats and finals will take place right up until day nine of the ten-day event on Saturday, August 3.

The badminton event will be at the Bolton Arena which is currently being built at Middlebrook.

Early rounds of the team event will begin on Friday, July 26 and continue until the final of the individual event on the last day of the Games on Sunday, August 4.

Mr Pete Bradshaw, principal leisure officer, said that the event is expected to attract one million visitors to the region and one billion television viewers. Councillors at the leisure services committee were shown a video which featured Prime Minister Tony Blair describing it as "the biggest sporting event Britain has ever hosted -- bigger than the 1948 Olympics and the 1966 World Cup."

Mr John Shepley, acting director of leisure services, said: "The Games are a major opportunity for Bolton."

There is expected to be 10,000 athletes competing in the event representing 72 countries. It will feature 14 individual sports and three team sports.

Mr Bradshaw added: "The 2002 Games will be a culmination of a national festival of cultural, educational and sporting events throughout 2001 and 2002.

"This will be the cornerstone for the Queen's Golden Jubilee and will celebrate the Commonwealth's artistic and cultural heritage."

More details were also unveiled of another major sporting coup for Bolton last night.

As already reported, one of the semi-finals of this year's rugby league World Cup will be held at the Reebok Stadium on November 18.

But Bolton has now also been chosen as one of the "host cities" for the event.

This means that it will be involved in major promotional activities for the World Cup and is likely to have some of the game's greatest players taking part in events in the town.

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