Athletics Australia slams former premier for handling of botched Commonwealth Games
Athletics Australia has given Daniel Andrews a serve over the handling of the Commonwealth Games fiasco, saying the cancellation will cause “immeasurable harm” to athletes.
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Athletics Australia has lambasted Daniel Andrews for scrapping the Commonwealth Games, saying it will cause “immeasurable harm” to athletes’ futures.
The peak sporting body said elite athletes who had competed at previous Games would experience a “diminished public perception on the value of their performances” on a global level.
In a stinging submission to the parliamentary inquiry into the 2026 Commonwealth Games fiasco, Athletics Australia said the cancellation of the event continues to have a “devastating impact” on the sport, and feared the brand may never recover.
“The manner in which the news of the cancellation was delivered further compounded the angst, with the then Premier of Victoria stating that he made no apology for cancelling the Games to instead invest in regional Victoria,” the submission stated.
“The upheaval this decision has caused for athletics in Victoria and Australia, as well as the Commonwealth Games is immeasurable, with a blatant disregard for the significant logistical, emotional, financial and reputational damage caused.
“The Commonwealth Games brand may never recover from this episode, and in that, hundreds of past athletes who have competed in the green and gold for Australia with pride will now experience a diminished public perception on the value of their performances in this event.”
Athletics Australia warned the impacts of the cancellation of the Games will extend to the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games.
“None of these impacts will be confined to Victoria,” it said.
Athletics Australia said the cancellation of the Games’ had messed up a planned return to a regular four-year competition cycle for elite athletes, particularly those based in Victoria, who had already faced serious disruptions throughout Covid.
It added that the ability to inspire Aussie kids watching homegrown heroes on home soil was now jeopardised, as is the structural pathway to let the next generation of athletes break through in international competition.
“Notably, many of our Australian stars first launched onto the international scene via the Commonwealth Games, including 16-year-old Cathy Freeman, the first Indigenous Australian person to become a Commonwealth Games gold medallist in Auckland in 1990, and then little-known 23-year-old Steve Hooker who secured gold in his first major international competition at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games,” the submission said.
Athletics Australia added that while the cancellation impacted both Victoria and Australia’s reputation as an event host, it also hurt the organisation’s ability to develop its technical knowledge required to host major events.
Opposition tourism, sport and events spokesman Sam Groth said: “This is a scathing submission that highlights the impact of Jacinta Allan’s $600m debacle on not just Victoria’s reputation but also sport and athletes”.
“The very least the Premier can do is apologise to the athletes who won’t get to compete for their country on home soil.”
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Originally published as Athletics Australia slams former premier for handling of botched Commonwealth Games
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