Birmingham last summer delivered some standout moments like Eilish McColgan’s 10,000m win and England’s first women’s hockey gold. The integrated schedule, featuring para athletes as part of the same programme as able-bodied athletes, pointed to the way ahead for sport.
But when the dust had settled what stayed in the memory wasn’t any single performance – even Ozzy Osbourne’s. It was the feelgood factor the event brought with it. Mega multi-sport gatherings are about more than just simply ranking athletes – where else would a Jamaican sprinter have the chance to meet a Norfolk Island lawn bowler? – and while the competition on offer may have been uneven in quality, the 1.5m spectators who descended on Birmingham had a riot regardless.
They brought a life and vitality to a city which revelled in being the centre of a global audience’s attention over a memorable festival fortnight. As a giant advertising hoarding for Brum it was spectacular, transformative even. The Premier of Victoria, Dan Andrews, who pulled the plug on hosting the Games this week, seems to have entirely missed that point.
There are, on the surface, more pressing spending priorities for any administration than hosting a Commonwealth Games but what an opportunity it would have been for places like Bendigo and Ballarat. Their moment has been lost. No other state in Australia has shown a willingness to take over leaving the Games in a hole.
Unless someone grasps the nettle, it could be consigned to history. That cannot be allowed to happen. For some sports, like netball, the Commonwealth Games is a seriously big deal. Another World Cup, in effect. Reputations have been made there, careers launched.
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