Commonwealth Games

Blake was the favourite to be crowned men's sprint champion at Carrara Stadium, but the Jamaican could only take bronze after he failed to recover from a poor start and South Africa's Simbine eased to victory in 10.03 seconds ahead of compatriot Henricho Bruintjies.

Ahye became the first woman from Trinidad and Tobago to win 100m gold, crossing the line in 11.14secs ahead of Jamaica duo Christania Williams and Gayon Evans on the Gold Coast.

About 100 noisy but peaceful protesters were contained by police outside the venue some 90 minutes before the official start of the ceremony, attended by Britain's Prince Charles, his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

The protesters, carrying signs that read "colonisation is not a game", had earlier disrupted a leg of the Queen's Baton Relay and demanded Britain's royal family members ask them for permission to visit "stolen" land.

But come Wednesday it will officially become the host of the 21st Commonwealth Games.

It'll be the fifth time Australia has hosted the event.

Gold Coast's Games will cost $2 billion.

Hosting the Games is seen as a coming of age for Gold Coast as it seeks to move out of the shadow of Brisbane.

The pressure is on Blake to fill the huge void left by sprinting icon Bolt's retirement from athletics following last year's IAAF World Championships.

The eight-time Olympic gold medallist, the world record holder over 100 and 200 metres, playfully suggested to his former Jamaica team-mate that failure on the Gold Coast will land him trouble.

"Usain Bolt was at the track in Jamaica before I left," Blake told the media upon his arrival in Australia. "He said: 'If you don't win there is going to be problems.'

Among the outstanding stars at the Vanuatu Games is 17-year-old Samoan weightlifter Fegaiga Stowers, who set a new Commonwealth record in the women's 90kg class by lifting 108kg in the snatch, 131kg in the clean-and-jerk for a 239 kg total.

Papua New Guinea's Stephen Kari secured all three gold medals in the men's 93kg category by lifting 155kg in the snatch and 195kg in the clean-and-jerk.

International weightlifting referee Lilly Coffa, a trainer at the Oceania Weightlifting Institute in New Caledonia, says the athletes are ready for the Commonwealth Games.

Last week Whittaker, who was already the interim middleweight champion, was given the overall title after mixed martial arts legend Georges St-Pierre vacated due to health reasons.

The New Zealand-born Australian, Australasia's first UFC champion, has been scheduled to headline UFC 221 against American Luke Rockhold in Perth in February, which comes just under two months before April's Commonwealth Games.

Whittaker has already qualified for the 97kg wrestling division at the Games following his win at the Australian wrestling trials last month.

The idea amongst others was raised at the Trade 2018 GC2018 briefing held by representatives from the Office of the Commonwealth Games, Queensland Government, Lisa Ward and Yasmahne Hanel for invited guests at the Pullman Hotel in Auckland last week.

A record eight women's teams are competing this year and for hosts Fiji the goal is straight forward - trying to regain the title they won two years ago.

The Fijiana play Samoa and Tonga in their first two pool matches but captain Ana Maria Rociqa said they already have an eye on their final match of the day against the defending women's champions.

"We have Australia in our pool game. We played against them at Central Coast (two weeks ago) in the quarter finals and we lost," she said.

Dr Kieren Keke, Chef de Mission for Team Nauru at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, said they are looking forward to seeing everyone out joining in the Relay celebrations.

“This is a very special opportunity to see the Queen’s Baton and celebrate its journey through the Commonwealth.

“Nauru will have a welcome day for the Baton on Wednesday (1 Nov) and a round island relay day on Thursday (2 Nov).

The schedule of sporting events has been released and for the next month people are being encouraged to consider which events they would like to attend.