The reports published last month regarding Glasgow, Scotland hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games have now been confirmed.
A stripped-down version of the Games will return to Glasgow after more than a decade, with just 10 sports being featured across 4 venues, including the Tollcross International Swimming Centre.
According to BBC, the 2026 Games will not be funded by the public. Instead, a ‘substantial contingency’ was put in place alongside an improved offer for the Games’ budget from Commonwealth Games Scotland, the Commonwealth Games Federation and Commonwealth Games Australia. (BBC)
Commonwealth Games Australia has pledged a multi-million pound investment, contributing £2.3 million to enhance the event. (Scottish Business News)
Cabinet minister Neil Gray told BBC Scotland News, “We’ve been interrogating this to a very great degree over the last couple of months to make sure there is no call upon the Scottish government finance.
Regarding the production of the Games, Gray said, “It is going to be smaller, it’s going to be a different concept and I think it’s important for us to recognise that, but also celebrate the fact that we are able to continue with an offering that means we’ve got a very clear pathway and a very important pathway for our elite sports participants here in Scotland.”
Swimming Australia released an official statement supporting Glasgow as the new host.
SA Chief Executive Officer Rob Woodhouse said,“The Commonwealth Games are a rich part of Australia’s sporting history and like all sports fans, we are delighted with today’s news that Glasgow has support to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games,” Mr Woodhouse said.
“The Commonwealth Games are an important pathway for our swimmers – they provide valuable experience for our athletes to be exposed to a multi-sport event, a Village environment and performing under pressure.
“I applaud Commonwealth Games Australia, Commonwealth Games Scotland and the Commonwealth Games Federation for their reimagination of the Games which is an important part of the journey towards 2028 LA Olympics and our own 2032 home games in Brisbane.”
where’s Pan Pacs?
Canada
Wikipedia says Los Angeles. The junior version is in Canada the same year (2026).
2026 was supposed to be Canada’s turn. But I believe last year USA Swimming asked Swimming Canada to allow them to hold the 2026 Pan Pacs in LA as a lead-in and test event for LA2028.
Good news. The Commonwealth Games is a chance for swimmers ranked 3rd in events at Trials to get some valuable international racing experience.
The Commonwealth Games Federation has spent half of the AU$380 million payout from Victoria to secure the 2026 games. Hopefully they can use the other half of the money to entice someone to host the 2030 games. After that it will get much harder to find a host city as the host will have to be willing to stump up the cost of the games themselves.
2030 will be too close to Brisbane 2032 for Australia to host so it’s gonna have to be someone else again.
We might need Birmingham to put their hands up for a second go.
. . . . And the lucky sports will be????
No one knows for sure yet.
Swimming, athletics are 99.99% certain. Track cycling will probably be there too.
The talk is that there might be more “Commonwealth orientated” sports, e.g. Netball and (maybe) squash. Stuff that doesn’t require a lot of facilities and infrastructure.