Does the Commonweatlh mean anything these days?

[OneHungLow]

Does the Commonwealth amount to anything these days or is it an anachronistic nostalgic throwback to a faded empire that is irrelevant in this day and age?

Whatever the case I have sympathy for Victoria's decision to relinquish the financial burden that these games presented to their fiscus. It is worth noting that no other Australian state is prepared to pick up the poisoned chalice that hosting the games presents.

Sporting world dismayed by Victoria’s withdrawal as host of 2026 Commonwealth Games

Current and former athletes have criticised the Victorian government’s shock decision to pull out of hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games, while the head of the Games in Australia called it “absolutely embarrassing”.

The most decorated athlete in Commonwealth Games history, swimmer Emma McKeon, said the events “inspire young Aussies to go after their dreams”.

“I’m disappointed to hear the news,” she said.

Does Victoria’s 2026 cancellation sound Commonwealth Games death knell?

Paralympics and Commonwealth Games gold medal winner Rowan Crothers said the decision stung those with disabilities and “will suck for the state of inclusion”.

“For some athletes, a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games means more than a gold medal at the Paralympics – it’s not just a similar level, it’s the exact same thing the able-bods get,” he said on Twitter.

“Recognition and equality can mean more than achievement.”

The Australian Sports Commission chief executive, Kieren Perkins, said it had been a difficult day for the sporting community and that the Commonwealth Games remained an important event for Australia.

“For many of our athletes, coaches and support staff, Victoria 2026 was going to be an important stepping stone ahead of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and for others it was to be the pinnacle of their careers,” he said, adding mental health support would be available to athletes and those involved in the bid.

The Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA) chief executive, Craig Phillips, rejected the justifications from Victoria for cancelling the event, and said the controversial decision announced on Tuesday would cost Melbourne its reputation as a sport-friendly city.

“I would be very careful if I was an international sporting body coming and doing business in this state in the future,” Phillips said.

International body the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) labelled the cancellation “hugely disappointing”, and said it was given just eight hours notice of the decision.

After Daniel Andrews cited a financial blowout for the decision, the CGF took aim at the premier’s justification and claimed the state had “walked away” from the agreement.

“Since awarding Victoria the Games, the government has made decisions to include more sports and an additional regional hub, and changed plans for venues, all of which have added considerable expense, often against the advice of the CGF and Commonwealth Games Australia,” the CGF said in a statement.

“Up until this point, the government had advised that sufficient funding was available to deliver the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games.”

Phillips described the decision as “beyond disappointing” and said he first heard of Andrews’ revised $6bn cost estimate at 6.30am Tuesday morning.

“The stated costs overrun, in our opinion, are a gross exaggeration,” he said.

“Beyond this, the Victorian government wilfully ignored recommendations to move events to purpose-built stadia in Melbourne and in fact remained wedded to proceeding with expensive temporary venues in regional Victoria.”

Criticism of the decision from the heads of Australia’s major sports has been almost universal.

The chief executive of AusCycling,Marne Fechner, said the decision to withdraw rather than to adapt the bid was a missed opportunity. The Hockey Australia chief executive, David Pryles, said he was “disappointed for our Hockeyroos and Kookaburras”.

Swimming Australia’s interim chief executive, Steve Newman, said the news was a blow to athletes and the public, while the Athletics Australia chief executive, Peter Bromley, said it was a “great disappointment”. Netball Australia chief executive, Kelly Ryan, said she was disappointed but that “we understand and respect the decision”.

The CGF said it remained committed to finding another host for the 2026 event.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/ ... n-responds

[John Hill]

It can be very useful when conviving in some foreign bar and some yank representative is blowing his bugle, he can be easily knocked back by saying that not being a member of the Commonwealth he would not understand. In such situations there will assuredly be enough Commonwealth reps to invoke a great laugh at his expense.

[tango15]

Does this really matter? So the state of Victoria decides, for reasons best known to itself, that it doesn't want to be bothered hosting the Commonwealth Games. So what?
I am sure there are plenty of other countries within the Commonwealth that would be happy to pick up the baton so to speak. There are 56 of them, and whilst many are too small to host such a large spectacle, others are totally capable.
Sadly, The Commonwealth is much misunderstood and underused. The French know how to deal with this much better than we do. Consider that they still run their Guyana, while we and the Dutch have given ours back. It still has its islands in the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean (French {Polynesia), and the Caribbean. One hears very little of such places, and whilst nowhere near as big as our own Commonwealth, they are significant in their own right.

[Rossian]

....it's like the Olympics which seem not to be able to exist without astronomical amounts of public money being spent on them to be "bigger, better and more spectacular" than the last version. I think all the athletes at the Olympics should be required to run,jump,throw and swim, as starters for ten. Will the world stop turning if there isn't an Commonwealth games? All the "officials" and VVIPs and politicians and heads of state might miss out but,hey, who cares?

The Ancient Mariner

[tango15]

....it's like the Olympics which seem not to be able to exist without astronomical amounts of public money being spent on them to be "bigger, better and more spectacular" than the last version. I think all the athletes at the Olympics should be required to run,jump,throw and swim, as starters for ten. Will the world stop turning if there isn't an Commonwealth games? All the "officials" and VVIPs and politicians and heads of state might miss out but,hey, who cares?

The Ancient Mariner

[OneHungLow]

A bit of history on the current situation.

Following a long, gradual slide towards irrelevance, things had been looking up lately for the Commonwealth Games – the Olympics-lite multi-sport competition for British colonies past and present.

The 2022 edition in Birmingham had been a hit, among fans and athletes alike. The Games Federation had increasingly sought to grapple with its challenging past, a complex legacy of colonialism that sits uneasily with the celebratory tone of a major sporting event. Unlike the Olympics, which has tried to silence its participants, the Games had even embraced athlete activism.

And after a mad scramble to find a host for the 2026 Commonwealth Games, because no city really wanted them, Victoria had agreed to host on a multi-location regional basis. It promised to be an exciting proposition: a smaller, more nimble Games, taking elite sport to regional hubs, rather than building more white elephant stadiums on the outskirts of big cities.

Had it been successful, the Victorian approach might have paved the way for a sustainable, refreshed future for the Commonwealth Games – and a point of difference from the Olympic behemoth. A disaggregated model for these turbulent times; regional Games one cycle, perhaps national or even globally-dispersed Games the next?

But it was not to be. On Tuesday, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews cancelled the 2026 Games. In doing so, has he cancelled them forever?

In the days ahead, much ink will be spilled on Victoria’s decision, including the financial and political implications. The headline figure in Andrews’ press conference, $7bn, seems astonishing. The previously estimated budget of $2.6bn was already higher than recent editions – Birmingham spent about A$1.4bn, while the last Games in Australia, on the Gold Coast in 2018, cost A$1.6bn.

In a statement, the Commonwealth Games Federation noted that since the event was awarded, the government had “made decisions to include more sports and an additional regional hub, and changed plans for venues, all of which have added considerable expense, often against the advice” of the federation. The discrepancy between the cost of recent Games and the figures cited by Andrews, raise questions about whether it was the Games themselves that were too dear, or some particular, Rolls Royce vision of the Games that the Victorian government had in mind.

Of course the cancellation is entirely within the government’s democratic prerogative – only it will be held accountable at the ballot box. The volte-face is also a marked and somewhat laudable contrast from recent Olympics, where the International Olympic Committee has seemingly called the shots despite popular disapproval, such as the Covid Games in Tokyo. But it is a peculiar development nonetheless.

So where does this leave the Commonwealth Games? It is probably premature to write an obituary. Victoria’s cancellation sounded the starting gun for other potential hosts, with suggestions that Perth or Sydney might consider hosting (the loudest cheerleader for Team WA, Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas, also happens to work for Channel Seven – who broadcast the 2022 Games). Successive state premiers poured cold water on these ideas, many also citing budget challenges, but an alternative host, in Australia or abroad, might yet be found.

Even if the 2026 Games go ahead, this high-profile cancellation poses an existential challenge to the Games. As a second-tier event with a first-tier price tag, the Games need to prove their relevance to fans and athletes if they are to continue. It is, after all, an event thought up by a Canadian sportswriter to celebrate the British empire, sparked largely by Canadian-American animosity at a prior Olympics. That Australia’s seafaring ride home from the inaugural Games in Canada sank and left the team stranded only underscores the anachronistic origins.

The world might not mourn the loss of the Commonwealth Games. If, as Andrews promised on Tuesday, the funding is redirected towards regional revitalisation and social housing, that is certainly better value for taxpayer money than an expensive two-week sporting extravaganza (or a glorified school sports carnival, as someone unkindly quipped). The Games’ connection to a history of oppression and bloodshed will always be hard to shake off while they remain, through name and membership, intrinsically linked with Britain’s colonial past.

But for those that believe in the power of sport, to inspire, to foster connection and shared belonging, to promote participation, there will always be a place for major sporting events. The pressing question for the Commonwealth Games is whether they deserve that place.

The timing of the cancellation was oddly apt – just two days out from the first Women’s World Cup to be held on Australian soil. The month ahead will be a joyous celebration of the coming of age of women’s sport, a triumph in breaking down barriers. It will be the biggest standalone women’s sporting event, for a sport that has championed gender equality and LGBTQ+ inclusion. It will be a mega sporting event for our time, a beacon of hope for inclusion and equity, in sport and society alike.

If the Commonwealth Games can reinvent itself to be fit for purpose in the modern era, it might still thrive – notwithstanding the blow of Victoria’s cancellation. If not, the death of the Games, like the end of empire itself, is to be celebrated, not mourned

.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/ ... 26%20Games.

[1DC]

I'm a bit surprised Victoria even offered, the last time they did it I happened to be there and the Aussies only seemed to be interested if an Aussie was winning. It was clear that if an A ussie was actually winning a race then the TV showed all the racers so it was clear who was winning but if the Aussie was losing the camera zoomed in on the Aussie so you couldn't tell where he/she/they was in the race!
I went to the MCG a few times and was quite surprised at how disinterested the Aussies were unless one of there own was involved compared to other members of the Commonwealth who seemed to be really enjoying the moment all of the time.
Considering that it was supposed to be smaller than Birmingham why is it forecast to be five times the cost?

[John Hill]

At one of the games the Aussies were being thoroughly spanked by the Kiwis in the medals tables. Naturally their media could put a good spin on anything and reported that the "Kiwis do well in sitting down events!"

The events included such as rowing, yachting, equestrian, cycling and archery. Yes, archery was included as Ms Fairhall competed from her wheelchair!

[1DC]

I was watching a mens bowls doubles between Oz and somebody else. One of the Aussies was using a walking stick as an aid when bowling. The Aussies won and the Aussie with the stick forgot himself and ran the length of the green and picked his partner up to celebrate the victory. The programme switched to something else so I never did find out whether it affected the result!

[G-CPTN]

an alternative host, in Australia or abroad, might yet be found.

Such as Coober Pedy or Alice Springs?

[OneHungLow]

I was watching a mens bowls doubles between Oz and somebody else. One of the Aussies was using a walking stick as an aid when bowling. The Aussies won and the Aussie with the stick forgot himself and ran the length of the green and picked his partner up to celebrate the victory. The programme switched to something else so I never did find out whether it affected the result!

Truly a miracle to behold...

[OneHungLow]

an alternative host, in Australia or abroad, might yet be found.

Such as Coober Pedy or Alice Springs?

I could also suggest Riemvasmaak or Pofadder in South Africa, although given the failure of Durban to deliver the games which meant that Birmingham had to step in last time around, this idea might not get much traction.

Like Kalamazoo and Timbuktu, the name "Pofadder" is used to represent somewhere very remote, far away and out of the mainstream of the world. This usage is most common in South Africa, while Timbuktu is used in most of the Commonwealth for this purpose and Kalamazoo in the United States. Putsonderwater is used in a similar way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pofadder,_South_Africa

Putsonderwater might not have enough sporting venues and amenities...

https://www.experiencenortherncape.com/ ... st-station