Vaughan
Cruickshank, University
of Tasmania and Brendon
Hyndman, Charles
Sturt University
Victoria was
supposed to be gearing up to welcome athletes from around
the world for the 2026 Commonwealth Games. Instead, the
competition is getting underway in Glasgow,
Scotland.
The 2026 event was originally
awarded to Victoria. However, the state withdrew in July
2023 because of increasing
costs.
It was feared this decision could lead
to the games becoming extinct.
However,
after discussions with numerous different cities, Glasgow
was confirmed
as the replacement host
city in September 2024.
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So, what does
this year’s event look like, who are the Australians to
watch and what does the future hold for the
games?
What are the Commonwealth
Games?
Similar to the Olympics, the Commonwealth
Games is a long-standing international sports event held
every four years, except for cancellations during world
wars.
In contrast to the Olympics, they are
open only to countries within the Commonwealth
of Nations: predominantly English-speaking former
colonies of the British
Empire.
In fact, the games were called the
British Empire Games when they began in 1930.
In Sydney, 1938.
The title Commonwealth Games has only been
used since 1978.
This year will be the 23rd
Commonwealth Games. Most previous editions have been hosted
by larger Commonwealth countries such as Australia (five
times), Canada (four), England (four) and New Zealand
(three).
The Commonwealth nations represent a
combined 2.5 billion people: nearly a third
of the total world population.
A smaller event
than usual
The Commonwealth Games has always had
fewer sports and fewer
athletes than the Olympics. However, the 2026 event will be
even smaller than usual.
Glasgow’s pitch for
hosting the 2026 games consisted of a scaled-down
version.
The Birmingham
2022 games included 20
sports
and more than 5,000
athletes.
Glasgow 2026 will feature 3,000
athletes competing in ten sports.
But the 2026 event will have the largest
integrated para sport program in Commonwealth Games history.
Six of the ten sports will have a para
equivalent.
The inclusion of Gabon and Togo also
means a record 74
nations will be contesting events.
To save
money, the ten sports will be spread across just four venues,
all within a 12 kilometre corridor in central Glasgow.
Athletes and support staff will stay in hotel
accommodation rather than an athletes’ village. The
opening and closing ceremonies will also be smaller.
Many of the omitted
sports are team
sports, which greatly decreased the number of athletes,
and associated costs such as transport and accommodation.
Others such as aquatics, cycling and gymnastics
are still included but have fewer
events (such as cycling, which no longer includes road
cycling or mountain biking).
Many sports are
understandably disappointed
to not be included, especially rugby,
squash
and hockey,
whose governing bodies argue appropriate venues already
exist in Glasgow.
Officials have stated athletics
and swimming will be the only compulsory
sports at future Commonwealth Games. So, all the sports
omitted for 2026 could be included again in future
events.
The Australians with an eye on
gold
Australia boasts reigning
Commonwealth
champions and medal
chances
in nearly every sport on the 2026 program.
They should again be one of the teams
to beat after topping the Birmingham 2022 medal table with
67 golds.
Direct comparisons and predictions are
difficult, because Glasgow will have fewer sports and
gold-medal events.
Swimming
remains
Australia’s biggest gold mine. The 60-member Dolphins team
will be headlined
by Mollie O’Callaghan, Cam McEvoy and Kyle Chalmers,
alongside leading para swimmers such as Tim
Hodge and Lakeisha
Patterson.
Australia won 25
swimming golds in Birmingham and has the depth to
dominate again.
Athletics also offers
major chances.
Olympic pole vault champion Nina
Kennedy returns
as the defending Commonwealth champion, as does Kurtis
Marshall in the men’s pole vault.
Olympic
silver medallist Jess Hull will contest
the mile and 5,000 metres, while Olympic bronze medallist
and defending discus champion Matt Denny is another leading
prospect.
Other key athletics medal chances
include:
The
Diamonds are ranked
number one in world netball and will defend their title,
although New Zealand, England and Jamaica ensure gold is far
from automatic.
What does the future
hold?
Is public interest in the Commonwealth Games
fading? The evidence is mixed.
The host model is
under pressure, as Victoria’s withdrawal and Glasgow’s
compact replacement
show. The event’s governing body, Commonwealth Sport, has
responded with a “Games
Reset” intended to make future events more flexible
and relevant.
They hope the smaller model can increase
the number of cities willing
to host
future games.
Audience interest has not disappeared
in Australia. Channel Seven reported
Birmingham 2022 reached 11.1 million Australians on
broadcast television – equivalent to roughly two in five
Australians – and 2.15 million viewers used 7plus.
This was substantial, but below the roughly 20
million Australians reached
by the recent Tokyo and Paris Olympics.
Organisers
for the 2026 Commonwealth Games also reported strong Glasgow
ticket demand, with the swimming pool and velodrome
virtually sold
out three months before the
event.
Australia’s medal rush should attract
viewers but the games’ future will depend on affordable
hosting, strong stories, inclusion and benefits that remain
after the podiums are packed away.
Vaughan
Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical
Education, University
of Tasmania and Brendon
Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education, Charles
Sturt University
This article is
republished from The
Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the
original
article.
