AUSTRALIAN Olympic hurdler Sally Pearson and a group of youngsters were all smiles in Sydney as the countdown to Glasgow's 2014 Commonwealth Games entered its final 500 days yesterday.

The celebration was mirrored in 11 countries. In St Helena, children wrote the number on their school field; in Guernsey, badminton players spelled out 500 in shuttlecocks; and 500 was written in the snows of Ontario.