There's only a year until Glasgow 2026 so why do we know so little?

The Herald Scotland

2 days ago

It's increasingly hard, though, to be sure of where things stand with the Games.
There's a few things we know for sure.
It'll be a considerably scaled-down Games from that which came to the city in 2014.
Eleven years ago, Glasgow 2014 dominated the city, in the best possible way. There were 17 sports on the programme and more than a few truly global superstars turned up in Glasgow - most notably Usain Bolt - to contend for medals.
Glasgow successfully hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2014. (Image: Getty Images)
Next summer will be a completely different entity. There'll only be ten sports on the programme, with just four venues being utilised.
This announcement about the sports programme came at the same time as Glasgow was confirmed as the host city - which only transpired after a truly disastrous couple of years which saw city after city withdraw from hosting duties and had left the entire future of the [[Commonwealth Games]] in serious doubt - and at the host city announcement, it was also guaranteed that not a penny of the £100 million that it'll cost to stage the Games will come from the public purse.
But since these announcements last October, precious little information about the progress of the preparations has been disclosed by the organising committee.
Last month, it was revealed that work to upgrade Scotstoun Stadium, which will host the athletics event at Glasgow 2026, had begun, with the athletics track being ripped-up and the temporary stands at either end of the stadium being dismantled.
And in an update that can be seen as entirely meaningless and can be put on the shelf labelled 'gimmick', the Glasgow 2014 mascot, Clyde, was ruled out of the running for the 2026 Games (not sure there's many who care one way or another about the fate of Clyde but I suppose I can't have a go at the organisers for trying to be funny). And earlier this week, the Games tartan was revealed.
But that's it. With the Glasgow 2026 kicking-off in twelve months and three days time, almost all details are unknown.
It's hard to know if the lack of openness about the preparations is a good or a bad thing.
Much of the radio silence has to be, it must be assumed, an expectation-management tactic and for this, the organisers cannot be blamed in the slightest.
It's already clear that Glasgow 2026 will be a much diminished event in comparison to Glasgow 2014 and building up any kind of lofty expectations will only serve to wind-up the considerable proportion of the population who believe hosting the Games next summer is a pointless, frivolous and unnecessary undertaking. And also, high expectations will only damage the Games when they arrive next summer and are, clearly, not a patch on the event that graced the city in 2014.
It's not all negative, though.
I've long been a sceptic of the value and, frankly, the point of Glasgow hosting next summer's Commonwealth Games. But even I can feel my scepticism dwindling.
On Wednesday, which marks exactly one year-to-go, there'll be some ambassadors announced, and the new mascot will be revealed. We might get a few more crumbs of information and we'll certainly get a load of administrator-esque speak about inspiration and excitement and opportunity. The lack of talk about legacy this time, though, is notable given it's a word that was repeated to death in the lead-up to Glasgow 2014 (and which has, in many respects, failed to materialise). Omitting the sales-push about legacy this time around has to be considered a smart move considering how difficult it will be to leave much of a legacy at all from next summer's event.
Wednesday will mark one year to go until Glasgow 2026
There has been one interesting development since Glasgow's confirmation as host city for the 2026 Games, though, and it's the apparent transformation of the fortunes of the Commonwealth Games in the longer-term.
Prior to Glasgow stepping-in to host next summer's event, it appeared there would be no 2026 Commonwealth Games at all given the reluctance of any other city to touch it with a barge pole.
It had become widely accepted that the Commonwealth Games, or certainly the Commonwealth Games at the scale it had reached, was not a sustainable entity. No longer was any city willing to pump literally hundreds of millions of pounds (much of which was public money) into something that had a top-tier price tag but is clearly not a top-tier sporting event.
But Glasgow's willingness to step-in next summer - had it not been for Glasgow's last-gasp move, I fully believe the Commonwealth Games would never have been seen again - it seems the entire future of the event has been transformed.
Perhaps transformed is a touch too strong, but it's definitely prevented its future from being blown to smithereens, which is what was perilously close to happening because with no 2026 Games, I can't see how there would ever have been a 2030 Games and beyond.
Earlier this year, the Commonwealth Games Federation revealed there were seven expressions of interest for the 2030 and 2034 Games, with Canada, India, Nigeria, plus two others publicly confirming their interest in the centenary Games in 2030, while New Zealand is one of two nations looking at hosting the 2034 edition.
Without Glasgow 2026, there'd have been none of this.
Glasgow's move to significantly scale-down the event will certainly diminish the Games in many respects next summer, but it's also provided a blue print for a number of other countries who had been baulking at the Games in its previous, large-scale iteration.
We'd reached a point that the Commonwealth Games was ping-ponging between the UK and Australia (since the turn of the century, only the 2010 Games in India had been held outwith the UK or Australia) but this seems to have now changed.
For those who desire a future for the Commonwealth Games, this can only be seen as a good thing.
But as it stands, we know little more than the Games is coming to Glasgow next summer. There remains many details to be clarified and much information to be revealed as to how the Games will actually look.
Over the next twelve months, as the Games itself draws nearer, things will become considerably clearer. I hope that the closer it gets, anticipation displaces scepticism amongst the wider public (and me) but the only way to build a modicum of excitement is to stop being so opaque and start showing us what there is to get excited about.