I’ve even seen the 19th edition of the event a Canadian named Bobby Robinson energised into being 80 years ago described as The Tentative Games.

At least, according to the notice displayed in the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium’s press room, indicating a “Tentative Games schedule”.

The Tentative Games could be quite charming.

Hesitant starts in the 100 metres.

Dabbing badminton shots.

Toes dipped gingerly into water in the swimming events.

(Eugh! That is cold!)

But I digress.

The 1930 Empire Games in Hamilton got under way with a statement of intent that Robinson had approved.

Compared to the Olympic Games, these Games "should be merrier and less stern and will substitute the stimulus of novel adventure for the pressure of international rivalry".

So if these Games don’t match up to Olympic or world standards all over the place, it really doesn’t matter – at least, it didn’t matter to Robinson and his colleagues.

But as it has turned out in the space of the past week, these Games do match up to Olympic or world standards in certain sports, certain events.

The tennis tournament may be taking place without the benefit of anyone in the world’s top 100, but the table tennis tournament contains Singapore, who have displaced China as the world champions.

The gymnastics may be lacking England and Canada’s top selections, as preference is being given to the World Championships which start soon after these Games finish.

But the swimming competition involves swathes of the world’s finest swimmers from England, Australia, South Africa and Canada.

The athletics competition here is the Games in microcosm, a patchwork of world class and threadbare events.

What can happen quite often is that competitors are presented with fields so limited that they are overwhelming favourites.

Which can create its own pressure.

In the men’s hammer competition, for instance, the South African, Christiaan Harmse (pictured), had thrown almost eight metres further than anyone else in the event, but he had to wait until his sixth and final throw to claim the gold.

It is a fair bet his overwhelming emotion as he did so was relief.

And that was exactly what suffused Andy Turner’s face as he won the race that was his to lose in the Nehru Stadium tonight, the 110 metres hurdles.

Turner’s year started on a high as he won the European title, but he hit reality checkpoint soon after as he encountered the affable, mountainous David Oliver at Crystal Palace.

Oliver has got within two hundredths of Dayron Robles’ world record of 12.87sec this year, and has made a habit of running sub-13 second races this season.

For Turner, that is territory beyond his current bounds, as he discovered in front of his home crowd at what was one of his regular training venues.

But these Games offered him a chance to round off his season with a golden glow.

A very good chance.

Twelve years ago another English high hurdler found himself in a similar position.

Tony Jarrett was a world class athlete who had the misfortune to be in the same event at the same time as a slightly better world class athlete, Colin Jackson.

The Welshman had won the two previous Commonwealth titles, each time beating Jarrett.

But this time Jackson was absent - this was Jarrett’s big chance.

He won. But his performance was excruciating to watch, especially for those who were willing him to earn a tangible reward for his manifest talent.

Turner (pictured) managed his golden opportunity with less angst, having enough time to wave his right arm in the air before he crossed the line ahead of team-mates William Sharman and Lawrence Clarke.

The winner was calm.

Accepting a flag of St George from a photographer, he draped it over his shoulders and held it aloft, as you do when you’ve won something in athletics.

But he seemed in no hurry to do a lap of honour.

By this time, the performances of the five men who dipped on the line for bronze had been sifted, and the name of Lawrence Clarke appeared on the scoreboard directly under those of Turner and Sharman.

It was as if someone had plugged the 20-year-old University of Bath student into the mains.

He bounced. He jumped. He yelled. He ran over to Turner.

I would suggest it was a perfect example of “the stimulus of novel adventure”.

Tentatively.

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, has covered the last five Summer and four Winter Olympics for The Independent. Previously he has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, the Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. He is now chief feature writer for insidethegames and will be providing regular reports from the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. These will be his sixth Commonwealth Games, having covered his first at Edinburgh in 1986.