Dan Andrews’ legacy to the Commonwealth Games is a dumpster fire
One of sport’s iconic events is set to be lost to the Commonwealth Games following Dan Andrews’ decision to renege on Victoria hosting the 2026 event.
Former premier Dan Andrews’ legacy to the Commonwealth Games is about to be laid bare this week in Glasgow following the Victorian government’s decision in 2023 to renege on its deal to host a full-scale Games in 2026.
Preliminary plans have indicated the marathon is one of the events set to be cut from the Glasgow 2026 event, with Scotland to host a slimmed down Games featuring only 10 sports.
The marathon has produced some brilliant moments.
Robert de Castella’s victory in Brisbane in 1982 – the Australian’s thrilling cat-and-mouse game with Tanzania’s Juma Ikangaa on the Queensland capital’s streets – was an iconic gold for the marathon legend.
There is also Steve Moneghetti’s first gold medal at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada, and Kerryn McCann’s glorious win in 2006. The late McCann secured Commonwealth Games gold in the last 300m in front of a roaring MCG crowd. “That wasn’t me running the last 300,” McCann said. “If the people weren’t out there, I wouldn’t have won a gold medal today.”
But there will be no dreamy “home” Games opportunities in 2026 and the fallout from Andrews’ decision is still stinging more than a year on.
It’s been reported that the Victorian government has spent nearly $600m on a Games it will never run, and while the financial pain is huge, it is of course having far-reaching implications for athletes in this country.
This decade was supposed to be a “golden runway” to the 2032 Olympics. Victoria’s Commonwealth Games was a key home event on the high-performance path to the Brisbane Games.
The Glasgow Games, for most sports, it is now an unwanted roadblock. Sports like hockey are reportedly all but gone from the program.
A report by Glasgow City Council has confirmed that the Games will be held between July 23 and August 2 – but that paperwork also gives a clue to which sports may not make the cut. The BBC reported that the council’s report confirms that no “road-based” events will be included which means no marathon, triathlon or road cycling.
Swimming and athletics were the only sports that were given guarantees for Glasgow.
With only 10 sports on the roster, this is almost half the number (19) that were on the program for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Andrews’ 2023 decision has proved costly not only for the schedule but for Australia’s reputation. Last year, Olympic supremo John Coates dubbed Andrews’ decision a “terrible embarrassment for Australian sport”. Earlier this year, chief executive Craig Phillips said the decision to abandon the Games because of cost was “callous”.
In that annual report, Phillips also said that Commonwealth Games Australia’s warning to the Andrews’ government about rising costs of the plans for a decentralised Games were shunned.
In March this year, a Victorian auditor-general concluded that the Andrews government – which cited the budget as the reason for dropping the Games – “overstated” the costs by more than $2bn. The scathing report also noted that the government was “not transparent”.
Andrews has trashed the Commonwealth Games brand and his decision has not only cost future stars of Australian sport the chance to create their own iconic memories but scared off future bidders for the event.
The sad reality is the Commonwealth Games may never be the same again. That’s a dumpster fire of a legacy.
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