Katie Falkingham
BBC Sport in London

The crowds are pouring in at the velodrome and they're unfurling their flags. There are a lot of Scotland fans in the house by the looks of things!

It's a Scottish pair that are the first to take to the boards at the 2022 Commonwealth Games as Libby Clegg and her sighted pilot Jenny Holl go in the women's tandem B sprint qualifying.

Recognise Clegg's name? She's a two-time sprinting Paralympic champion who has recently switched to cycling. This is her first competitive cycling race!

Ugo Monye
Former England winger on BBC One

You can see England were desperate to get the ball into Ellie Boatman's hands - and why wouldn't you? In my opinion she is the complete winger.

England are well and truly on their way in the women's rugby sevens. They have absolutely thrashed Sri Lanka.

Ellie Boatman grabbed four tries while Alicia Maude also scored a couple on a very easy win against a side that lost the plate final to Thailand at the Asia Rugby Sevens tournament in November to qualify for their first ever Commonwealth Games.

Not long to go now before the track cycling starts at Lee Valley VeloPark. Well less than a minute actually.

Not to be confused with the television presenter and former English hockey player of course!

Rob Vickerman
BBC Sport Rugby Sevens expert

Four tries from England's Ellie Boatman in the opening half - never has that been done before. She is writing history.

England's women have absolutely steamrollered Sri Lanka in the opening half of their Pool A match.

Wasps winger Ellie Boatman has been the star turn grabbing four tries. This could be a massive score.

Image source, Getty Images

Birmingham 2022 is hoping to be the most sustainable Commonwealth Games ever.

The central narrative is a re-use and recycle approach to the venues and accommodation.

Elsewhere, 72 tiny forests have been planted (one for each nation and territory competing at the Games), these tennis-court size forests have been planted in urban areas to support biodiversity and green spaces.

Spectators are also being encouraged to use public transport with everyone having access to two 30 minute rides with West Midlands cycle hire per day during the Games.

The Jewellery Quarter produces 40% of all jewellery in the UK – the highest concentration in Europe.

The Commonwealth gold, silver and bronze medals have been made there, as were the Wimbledon tennis men’s and ladies’ singles trophies.

Image source, @BBC

Image source, Getty Images

• £778m: Is the expected budget for these Commonwealth Games, making it the most expensive sports event in the UK since the Olympic and Paralympic Games a decade ago. The 2018 Gold Coast edition of the Commonwealth Games cost £967m.
• 14,000: Volunteers, known officially as the Commonwealth Collective.
• 3,500: Costumes have been made for the opening and closing ceremonies. They will be donated afterwards to local schools, colleges, theatre groups and museums.
• 1875: Jewel-like medals have been produced. They were designed by three female students from Birmingham’s School of Jewellery and have been manufactured in the city’s Jewellery Quarter.
• Two: Sports - T20 cricket and judo - have been added to the Commonwealth Games programme for 2022, while 3x3 basketball and its wheelchair counterpart replace the traditional version. Shooting has been dropped for these Games.
• One: Medal is required by South African swimmer Chad Le Clos to equal the Commonwealth Games record of 18, currently held by English and Australian shooters Mick Gault and Philip Adams.

Ugo Monye
Former England winger on BBC One

Scotland came back into it but the tries from Fiji just before half-time took them away from the Scots.

Scotland suffer defeat in their opening women's rugby sevens pool B match.

Fiji were pretty much always in control and racked up five tries on their way to a handsome victory.

The 2018 bronze medallists England are up next against Sri Lanka.

Katie Falkingham
BBC Sport in London

That's right - the track cycling is taking place in the capital and so the Lee Valley VeloPark is my home for the next few days.

The atmosphere in here is buzzing already and that's before the spectators have been allowed in. I caught a sight of the queue on my walk in and it's massive!

Image source, BBC Sport

Scotland currently having a tough time against Olympic bronze medallists Fiji in their opening women's rugby sevens pool B encounter.

We already have one result in with Australia's women thrashing South Africa 38-0 in Coventry.

Former former Olympic and Commonwealth bronze medallists Anabelle Smith, 29 and Maddison Keeney, 26, Australia have targeted “a bit of redemption” after encountering “a couple of speed bumps” in recent years.

A first World Championship medal as a pairing – bronze in Budapest on 3 July – was an excellent start. #

Next up is a chance to exorcise the memory of the 2018 Commonwealth Games when they went from first to last after Keeney botched their last dive and scored no points.

They then missed out on last year’s Olympics after Diving Australia pulled out of the Tokyo World Cup – a key qualifying event – following a spike in Covid-19 cases in Japan.

Early start for our Sharron Davies. Isn't it always over at the pool?

Aside from an Olympic silver medal British swimming great Davies' medal haul includes two gold, two silver and two bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games and she held the record for women's 400-metre individual medley for 18 years.

BBC One

Wondering how you can stay across the BBC coverage today?

You can watch up to 12 sports by simply clicking on the related stories to the right of this page.

And over on BBC One Jason Mohammad and Holly Hamilton are doing their stuff now as we cover off the opening session of the 22nd Commonwealth Games.

Anyone for a bit of Bowls to kick off with? Live Gymnastics? Badminton on the red button? You know what to do.

Image source, Getty Images

Right here's a quick look at a few of the pearls coming your way before the morning is out:

• Badminton - The mixed team group matches are under way with England playing Barbados in their opening Group B fixture (09:00 BST).
• Boxing - The men’s light welterweight last 32 sees England’s Joe Tyers, Scotland’s Reese Lynch, Northern Ireland’s John Paul Hale, Isle of Man’s Jamie Devine and Jersey’s Tom Frame are all in action (12:00).
• Bowls - The men’s para pairs, men’s triples, women's singles and women's para pairs all start this morning and got going a little earlier.
• Cricket T20 - Australia face India in a heavyweight Group A contest. The match is a repeat of the 2020 World Cup Final, won by Australia (11:00).
• Cycling (track) - The women’s tandem sprint, the women’s 4,000m team pursuit qualifying, the men’s 4,000m team pursuit and the Women’s team sprint are all on the agenda from just after 10:00.
• Gymnastics - England are hoping to become the first team to win three golds in a row as the men’s team final and individual qualification gets going (09:00).
• Hockey - Scotland play their first match since last October when they take on South Africa in women's pool B (11:00). Defending champions New Zealand play Kenya in the same group earlier.
• Rugby Sevens - Scotland face Olympic bronze medallists Fiji in women's Pool B (09:22), while England begin their campaign against Sri Lanka in Pool A (09:44). England's men face a tough opener against Samoa (11:44).
• Swimming - Australia's Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus, South African star Chad le Clos and British champion Dan Jervis are some of the headline acts in the pool with the men's 400m freestyle, women's 200m freestyle and men's 50m butterfly among the events to start (10:30).
• Triathlon - England’s Olympic silver medallist Alex Yee starts as one of the favourites for gold in the sprint distance of a 750km swim, 20km cycle and 5km run, with New Zealand's Hayden Wilde also tipped to go well (11:00).

Here's what a confetti shower looks like.

Image source, Getty Images