Commonwealth Games: What ‘Glasgow: 2026’ could mean for athletes
Commonwealth Games plaque in George Square in 2014.
Glasgow could be named as the host of the 2026 Commonwealth Games this month.
The city, which famously hosted the 2014 tournament, is viewed by organisers as a potential fallback location, after the Australian state of Victoria pulled out because of financial difficulties.
Scotland won 51 medals at the 2022 Games in Birmingham, and finished sixth in the overall rankings.
Venues like the Emirates Arena, Celtic Park, Hampden Park and the Glasgow Green would be re-used, as would the Athletes’ Village located a stones throw away from the Emirates.
Health secretary Neil Gray said that the competition would not be funded by the public, but rather through financing from the Commonwealth Games Federation and money generated from the tournament itself.
David Ovens, chairman of Scottish Athletics, said: We’re fortunate to have a real host of phenomenal, world class athletes in Scotland just now.
With the likes of Josh Kerr, Jake Wightman, Laura Muir and Jemma Reekie, we’re in a real golden patch in Scottish athletics and that’s in no small part down to Glasgow 2014.”
Kerr and Wightman have both won gold in the World Athletics Championships, while Muir won silver in the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2020, where Reekie also competed.
Ovens went on to say: “Glasgow is just a great city for hosting these events, a few months ago we had the World Athletics Indoor Championships there and it was just an incredible atmosphere, and one of the best Indoor Championships that we’ve seen.”
