Gold Coast chosen to host 2018 Commonwealth Games

The 2018 Commonwealth Games will be held in Gold Coast after the Australian city beat off the challenge of Sri Lanka's Hambantota.

The decision was made at a meeting of the Commonwealth Games Federation on the Caribbean island of St Kitts.

Gold Coast, in south east Queensland, won by 43 votes to 27.

Australia has hosted the games four times previously in the event's 80-year history while Sri Lanka was bidding to host the games for the first time.

The others were Sydney in 1938, Perth in 1962, Brisbane in 1982 and Melbourne in 2006.