Victoria’s shambolic withdrawal as Commonwealth Games host has likely killed the event for good, writes Scott Gullan

The 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games were a stunning success and left a lasting legacy. Twenty years later, Victoria’s shambolic withdrawal has likely killed the Games for good.

The Commonwealth Games are dead.

Regardless of how the authorities try to spin the shambolic withdrawal by the Victorian Government from the proposed 2026 version, in all likelihood the event which started back in 1930 as the British Empire Games has run its final race.

In recent times cities have been less and less willing to take on the event that was once compared favourably as the little brother to the Olympics Games in terms of its importance to athletes throughout Commonwealth nations.

Birmingham stepped up late in the piece to hold the 2022 version and with rising costs governments are struggling to see the economic benefit of the event which was the hymn book Premier Dan Andrews was singing from on Tuesday morning.

This is a huge blow to athletes across a number of sports in particular netball and squash who have exclusively been featured in the Commonwealth Games and not at Olympic level.

The impact on major sports like track and field, swimming and hockey will also be significant as they thrived on having a major championship in the middle of the Olympic cycle.

Cathy Freeman launched her career at the Commonwealth Games in 1994.

It was often used by these sports to blood young athletes, give them a taste of the big time which was a major benefit for them ahead of competing at the Olympic Games.

The great Cathy Freeman was a teenage relay runner in Auckland in 1990 and then four years later made the biggest statement of her career when she carried the Aboriginal flag in Victoria, Canada after winning the 400m.

Ian Thorpe dominated the pool at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur as a 15-year-old, winning six gold medals which propelled him towards the Sydney Olympics.

With world championships in athletics and swimming held every two years - the odd years in the Olympic cycle - there will be a massive hole in the competition schedule which leaves these sports vulnerable.

They already struggle to hold off challenges from football, cricket and basketball who can provide better pathways for promising kids. The Commonwealth Games gave them something to aim for and stay in the sport.

The Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006 was a stunning success and its legacy has lived on while the Gold Coast in 2018 showed Queensland could hold a major event, helping to get Brisbane the nod for the 2032 Olympic Games.

Is there a Hail Mary out there? Sydney has the infrastructure but do they have the want while Adelaide’s Premier is a go-getter and might like to steal something back from Victoria.

The idea for the regional Games was a good one but the initial feasibility study had it pencilled in for 2034. Andrews brought it forward for political reasons to win votes last year.

That has back-fired horribly and now he may have helped kill off one of the great sporting events in Australian history.