Quiet achiever Mark Knowles an inspirational choice for flag-bearer
MARK Knowles is an inspirational choice to lead Australia’s 472 athletes at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games – an epic event set to unite Queensland and put our part of the world in the global spotlight.
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MARK Knowles is an inspirational choice to lead Australia’s 472 athletes at tonight’s opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games.
Outside of his sport of hockey, Knowles may not be a household name like many of the other athletes who’ll follow our flag-bearer into the Gold Coast’s Carrara Stadium.
And Australians may have expected Sally Pearson, the nation’s current Queen of the Track and an athlete known to us all, would have gotten the gig.
However, Knowles embodies so much of what it means to be an Australian representing his country that the 34-year-old’s case to be our flag-bearer was irresistible.
A product of regional Queensland, Knowles grew up honing his skills on the dry tracks of Rockhampton and learnt the rough and tumble of men’s competition at the ripe old age of 14.
Since then he’s earnt 312 Kookaburras caps. He’s won a gold and two bronze medals over three Olympic Games campaigns, earnt three Commonwealth Games gold medals, and achieved World Cup and Champions Trophy glory.
The father of three has dedicated his life to a game that doesn’t come with the fame and fortune of other sporting pursuits.
His parents have crisscrossed the globe to watch their son compete.
So popular among his peers is Knowles, who will retire from international hockey at the end of the Games, that his teammates still wanted him to captain the side, even though they train in Perth and he recently moved back to Brisbane.
“He is a decent human being, he is modest, he embodies everything that is great about Australia,” Australia’s Chef de Mission Steve Moneghetti said.
“He is an absolute rock and we think he will be an inspiring leader.”
Knowles’ ascension to the exclusive club of Australian flag-bearer has more than a few parallels with the coming of age of the Gold Coast, which these Games represent.
Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Sydney have all played host over the past 80 years and now it is the Gold Coast’s time to shine.
Sprawled across 70km of idyllic coastline, the early Gold Coast was more a rambling collective of beachside enclaves than a functioning town.
Its populace was predominantly part-time.
Over recent decades the Gold Coast has ridden a remarkable tourism wave that’s transformed it into the modern, vibrant city that it is today.
Many southern holiday-makers loved the city’s golden sands and laid-back lifestyle so much they made their annual northern pilgrimage permanent.
That population influx has brought with it development and helped diversify the Gold Coast economy.
Expansion has not been at the expense of the Coast’s identity.
Most of the original surf clubs that dotted the beachfronts are still there – it’s just that many now also contain funky coffee shops and juice bars.
In fact, it’s often unrecognised just how much of an entrepreneurial spirit exists on the Gold Coast in areas such as hospitality, entertainment and the arts.
Hosting the Commonwealth Games represents a new stage in the city’s evolution and can be a springboard to enormous success in the future.
The lessons from past Games, particularly in relation to white elephant infrastructure, have been learnt as the baton has been passed from one host city to the next.
From the time former premier Anna Bligh’s administration won the hosting rights in 2011, detailed planning work has gone into ensuring Games venues morph into beneficial infrastructure for the future.
For example, strength and conditioning equipment and flooring to be used at the Games will be reinstalled at the under-construction Queensland State Netball Centre in Nathan.
The facilities that remain will be used for training camps and competition, attracting more visitors.
Games organisers have also done well engaging with the local community.
While Glasgow 2014 had an anthropomorphic thistle named “Clyde” as a mascot, it’s not just our ardent parochialism speaking when we suggest Borobi has done a better job.
The blue koala has become synonymous with the Games as organisers integrated his image everywhere to raise awareness of the event.
Borobi should certainly have a legacy beyond Brisbane’s 1982 mascot Matilda, who now sits outside a Gympie service station.
With such big events also come big challenges, and the next 11 days will certainly be testing for both the Gold Coast’s and Brisbane’s transport networks.
The number of people travelling to and from Games events on public transport will dwarf usual commuter crowds and this will be a huge strain on a train system already buckling under demand.
However, with more than a million tickets to events sold already, which compares to 1.2 million in total for Glasgow, Games organisers have done well ensuring Australians and international sports fans have embraced the event.
Whether you’ve got tickets to tonight’s opening ceremony or you’re watching on television from home, seeing Mark Knowles lead Australia will be a poignant moment of national pride.
If our athletes can all compete with his spirit, then the Gold Coast’s Games will be one to remember.
Responsibility for election comment is taken by Sam Weir, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details are available at couriermail.com.au/help/contact-us
Originally published as Quiet achiever Mark Knowles an inspirational choice for flag-bearer
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