2014 Commonwealth Games

XX Commonwealth Games
Host city	Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Motto	People, Place, Passion
Nations participating	72 Commonwealth Teams
Events	17 Sports[1]
Opening ceremony	23rd July 2014
Closing ceremony	3rd August 2014 Queen's Baton = TBC
Main Stadium	Hampden Park and Celtic Park
Website	www.glasgow2014.com

The 20th Commonwealth Games in 2014 will be held in Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. The winning city was announced by the Commonwealth Games Federation on 9 November 2007 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Games will run over 11 days of competition from 24 July to 3 August 2014. It will be the largest multi-sport event ever held in Scotland, although the country previously hosted the Games in 1970 and 1986 in Edinburgh. Over the last 10 years, however, Glasgow and Scotland have also staged World, Commonwealth, European, or British events in all 17 sports proposed for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, including the World Badminton Championships in 1997.^[2]

Selection process

Main article: Bids for the 2014 Commonwealth Games

Scotland was the first country to consider hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games in 2004, with Scottish cities being invited by the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland to consider making a bid. In September 2004, Glasgow was announced as the Scottish candidate city over Edinburgh (which hosted the Games in 1970 and 1986, and the inaugural Commonwealth Youth Games in 2000) following a cost-benefit analysis by the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland. The Scottish Executive under then First Minister of Scotland, Jack McConnell, with the support of the United Kingdom government and all main parties in the Scottish Parliament, formally announced Glasgow's intention to host the games on 16 August 2005.^[3][4]

In March 2006, the bidding process began, with the Glasgow Bid team presenting their case to the Commonwealth Games Federation at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, along with the other confirmed candidate cities; the Nigerian capital, Abuja and Halifax in Canada.^[5] In October 2006, the first voting delegates arrived in Glasgow, in order to inspect the city's existing and proposed amenities and facilities. Glasgow announced on 16 January 2007, the 17 sports to be included should its bid be successful.^[6] Halifax later withdrew its bid on 8 March 2007, following the withdrawal of funding from the municipal government.^[7]

That left Abuja and Glasgow as the remaining bidders, with Abuja seen as a likely favourite due the basis of its campaign that an African nation has never before hosted the Commonwealth Games.^[8] The deadline for formal submission of bids to the Commonwealth Games Federation, in the form of a Candidate City File, was set for May 2007.^[9] Both bids were highly recommended, though Glasgow's bid team had made use of extensive benchmarking against the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and as a result, its bid was deemed technically superior according to the CGF Evaluation Report that was released in September 2007. The Commonwealth Games Evaluation Commission concluded that: "Glasgow has shown it has the ability to stage the 2014 Commonwealth Games to a standard which would continue to enhance the image and prestige of the Games." This put Glasgow ahead in terms of the technical comprehensiveness of its bid.^[10]

The final decision on the host city of the 2014 Commonwealth Games was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 9 November 2007 at the Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly, attended by all 71 Commonwealth Games member associations. Each bid city made a presentation to the General Assembly, the order of which was determined by drawing lots. Glasgow's delegation was led by Louise Martin, chair of the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland, First Minister Alex Salmond, athlete Jamie Quarry and Leader of Glasgow City Council Steven Purcell. The presentation also included a promotional film narrated by Sean Connery.^[11] Abuja's delegation was led by General Yakubu Gowon, head of the Abuja 2014 Commonwealth Games bid team.

The CGF members subsequently voted for their preferred candidate in a secret ballot. As there were only two bids, the winner was announced by the CGF President, Mike Fennell, after the first round of voting, with the winner only requiring a simple majority. The results of the bidding process were

2014 Commonwealth Games bidding results
City	Country	Votes
Glasgow	Scotland	47
Abuja	Nigeria	24

Celebrations were held at Glasgow's Old Fruitmarket, where a crowd of over 1,200 had gathered to watch the result live.^[12]

Preparation

Venues

Hampden Park will host the Athletics events and the Closing Ceremony.

One of the key technical aspects of Glasgow's successful bid was the fact that the city already has 70 percent of the planned venues in place. The vast majority of venues are located within 20-minutes driving time of the Athletes Village in Dalmarnock and are broadly grouped into three clusters; in the East End, South Side and West End districts of the city. The only sports held outside the Greater Glasgow area will be the Diving and Full-Bore Shooting events.^[13]

Main Stadia

Hampden Park, Scotland's National Football Stadium, located on the South Side, will be the main venue for Athletics and the Closing Ceremony, while Celtic Park, located in the East End, will be used for the Opening Ceremony.^[14]

West End Cluster

Clyde Auditorium will host the Weightlifting.

The Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, located in the West End of the city, will host Wrestling and Judo, as well the Main Press Center and the International Broadcast Centre, benefiting from its strategic position adjacent to the headquarters of BBC Scotland and STV at Pacific Quay. The Clyde Auditorium will host Weightlifting, whilst the new Scottish National Arena will be used for the Gymnastics and Netball events.

Kelvingrove Park, also in the city's West End, will be the venue for Bowls and already has five bowling greens installed for competitive use. A comprehensive upgrade and refurbishment of the park is underway. Kelvingrove Park is situated close to the SECC and is adjacent to the Kelvin Hall, which will host the Boxing tournament. Scotstoun Leisure Centre will host Table tennis and Squash.

East End Cluster

Strathclyde Country Park will host the Triathlon.

A new National Indoor Sports Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome precinct is planned for Parkhead in the East End of the city, the velodrome itself will be opposite Celtic Park, which will be used for the opening ceremony. These venues will become the headquarters of Sportscotland and Scottish Cycling, and will also host Badminton as well as Track cycling.

The Road cycling and Cycling Time-trial events will start and finish at Glasgow Green. Glasgow Green will also be the venue for Field hockey and will see the construction of a new Regional Hockey Centre.

The Athletes' Village will be located adjacent to the National Indoor Sports Arena and Velodrome in Dalmarnock at Cuningar Loop on the banks of the River Clyde. The village will form the centrepiece of the wider Clyde Gateway Project, a strategic £1.6 billion inner city regeneration project for the East End of the city.^[15][16][17] The village masterplan, designed by RMJM, covers a 35 hectare site and will be purpose-built to house 6,000 athletes and officials in 2,500 residential units and leave a legacy of regeneration in this deprived district of the city.

Tollcross Park Aquatics Centre, also in the East End, will be the venue for Race swimming events. It already has one Olympic standard 50 metre swimming pool, which will be extensively upgraded, and a second 50 metre pool is also to be added for the Games as a warm-up facility. The existing permanent seating capacity will also be increased by 1000. Combined with additional temporary seating there will be over 5,000 seats for the Games in 2014.

Strathclyde Country Park, on the eastern outskirts of Glasgow, will host the Triathlon event.

South Side Cluster

Ibrox Stadium will host the Rugby Sevens tournament.

Ibrox Stadium, in the South Side, is the planned venue for the Rugby Sevens tournament. Mountain biking will be held on the Cathkin Braes near Rutherglen, the highest point in the city. The Marathon will also begin and end at Hampden Park in the South Side, which is hosting all the track and field events.

Satellite Venues

Diving will be held at the Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh, located 45 miles (72 km) to the east, which will also be holding the annual Edinburgh Festival at the same time as the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The Shooting competitions will take place at the Ministry of Defence full-bore rifle and clay target ranges at Barry Buddon, near Dundee, which were also used in the 1986 Commonwealth Games. There will be temporary ranges built for the small-bore rifle and pistol events. It should also be noted that shooting is the only sporting event that will not receive any legacy from the Games, despite their success in Delhi where they were the most successful sport, winning a total of nine medals (four gold, two silver and three bronze).

Infrastructure

See also: Transport in Glasgow, Culture in Glasgow, and Economy of Scotland

Two First ScotRail Class 170 trains running on the Glasgow to Edinburgh Line were wrapped in a special Glasgow 2014 self adhesive film Livery by 3M

Over two billion pounds^[18] will have been spent on enhancements to the city's transport infrastructure by 2014, including completion of major motorway links, such as the M74 and East End Regeneration Route. There are also planned improvements to public transport provision, such as the Clyde Fastlink project and the refurbishment of Dalmarnock railway station and the stations on the Glasgow Subway.

All venues in the Glasgow area will be directly served by the city's extensive railway and subway network, with its main interchange at Glasgow Central/St Enoch, including Hampden Park and Jackton, as well as the other major venues served by either the central Argyle Line or Subway.

There are also ongoing improvements to the River Clyde such as the construction of new bridges and development of river-based transport.^[19]

In terms of utilities, Glasgow has a comprehensive mains electricity network supplied by the National Grid, which is operated by Scottish Power and generated from an increasing share of renewable sources, such as Whitelee Wind Farm. More flexible electricity supplies are also readily available, with mobile generating specialists Aggreko, based in the city. Scottish Water operates Glasgow's primary water supply, which is sourced from Loch Katrine and enters the city via the state-of-the-art Milngavie water treatment works. The city has a world class healthcare sector administered by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Strathclyde Police have a proven track record in providing security at high profile events such as the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final and the 2005 G8 summit. Glasgow currently has some 11,870 hotel rooms, including three 5-star hotels. There are plans for eight new hotels in and around Glasgow. Ranging from 3 to 5 star accommodation; they will collectively provide a further 1,445 beds by 2014.^[20] The Glasgow City Marketing Bureau has also obtained contractual agreements from 67 hotels in the city to guarantee room rates with no minimum length of stay.^[21] In terms of telecommunications, Glasgow was voted the Intelligent Community of the Year in 2004 by the Intelligent Community Forum, in recognition of the city's comprehensive level of Broadband Internet access and highly developed 3G and Wi-Fi networks.^[22][23][24]

Financing and administration

See also: Politics of Scotland

On 14 November 2007, the First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, announced that with the disbandment of the Bid Committee, headed by Louise Martin, Chair of the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland and Bid Director, Derek Casey, a new Organising Committee and formal Business plan, for implementing the 2014 Commonwealth Games and securing its legacy, would be established within 100 days.^[25]

The Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council have agreed to underwrite the Organising Committee's net running costs of staging the Games, which is currently budgeted at £523.6m. This will be on the basis of an 80/20 split. It is expected that the majority of the 80% of costs to be covered by the Scottish Government will be new money committed to the sports and major events budget. Other capital expenditure is taking place in addition to the Organising Committee's budget, principally on venue infrastructure. Only three entirely new venues are required to stage the games, which are budgeted at a combined total of £200 million and additions to existing venues will cost an additional £70 million, although most of this investment had been planned to take place regardless of the bid result.^[26] The Games Village is projected to cost some £229 million and will be developed through a Public Private Partnership scheme.^[27] Following the announcement on 9 November 2007 that Glasgow will host the Games, the Scottish Parliament passed the Glasgow Commonwealth Games Bill. This legislation aims to protect the Games from Ambush marketing and ticket touts, while putting powers in place to address matters such as transport and land purchase. The Glasgow Commonwealth Games Act 2008, received Royal Assent on 10 June 2008^[28]

On 8 February 2008, Sir Robert Smith was appointed as Chair of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games organizing company. Smith is the former Chairman of the Weir Group, CEO of Morgan Grenfell Private Equity and BBC Governor and Chairman for the Broadcasting Council for Scotland.^[29]

As reported by Olympic news source Around the Rings, Glasgow 2014 Chief Executive John Scott resigned in June 2011 after "accepting, and not declaring, an offer from one of Glasgow 2014’s potential Suppliers, in breach of the Organising Committee’s strict Gifts and Gratuities policy." Smith announced that David Grevemberg, the Chief Operating Officer, will take over for Scott until a permanent replacement is named.

Sports

There were 71 countries, territories and bodies competing at the 2006 Commonwealth Games^[30]

The current regulations state that from the 26 approved sports administered by Commonwealth Governing Bodies, a minimum of ten and maximum of seventeen sports must be included in any Commonwealth Games schedule. The current approved sports include: athletics, aquatics, lawn bowls, netball (for women) and rugby sevens (for men). Integrated disabled competitions are also proposed for the Games in several events including: Swimming, Athletics, Cycling, Table Tennis and possibly Cycling, Powerlifting and Lawn Bowls, with the medals being added to the final tally for each nation.

There are a total of 17 disciplines planned for the 2014 Commonwealth Games:^[31]

• Aquatics
  • Swimming
  • Diving
• Athletics
• Badminton
• Boxing
• Cycling
  • Road
  • Track
  • Mountain
• Gymnastics
  • Artistic
  • Rhythmic
• Field hockey
• Judo
• Lawn Bowls
• Netball
• Rugby sevens
• Shooting (Small Bore Rifle, Full Bore Rifle, Pistol and Clay Target)
• Squash
• Table Tennis
• Triathlon
• Weightlifting
• Wrestling

Provisional competition schedule

OC

Opening ceremony

●

Event competitions

1

Event finals

CC

Closing ceremony

July/August		23rd Wed	24th Thu	25th Fri	26th Sat	27th Sun	28th Mon	29th Tue	30th Wed	31st Thu	1st Fri	2nd Sat	3rd Sun	Events
Ceremonies		OC											CC
Athletics								1	6	9	8	6	14	44
Badminton			●	●	●	●	1	●	●	●	●	3	2	6
Boxing				●	●	●	●	●	●	●		11		11
Cycling			3	3	3	4	2				2	2		19
Diving									3	2	3	2		10
Gymnastics			1	1	2		4	6	1	1	4			20
Field hockey			●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	2	2
Judo			4	5	5									14
Lawn bowls			●	●	●	●	3	●	2	1	2			8
Netball			●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	1	1
Rugby sevens					●	1								1
Shooting				●	1		2	4	5	6	2			20
Squash			●	●	●	●	2	●	●	●	●	1	1	4
Swimming			4	5	8	5	11	7						40
Table tennis			●	●	●	●	2	●	●	●	1	2	3	8
Triathlon			2											2
Weightlifting			2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1				15
Wrestling														21
Total Events														246
Cumulative total
July/August		23rd Wed	24th Thu	25th Fri	26th Sat	27th Sun	28th Mon	29th Tue	30th Wed	31st Thu	1st Fri	2nd Sat	3rd Sun	Events

Logo

Bid and interim logo

Interim and bid logo.

The interim logo for the Games was first used during Glasgow's bid, with the "Candidate City" section removed following 9 November 2007, when the bid was approved. The logo depicts two Sprinters woven into a tartan motif, representing Scotland. The logo also vaguely resembles the Clyde Auditorium, one of Glasgow's most recognisable landmarks. The pattern, forming the Roman numerals XX, also represents the fact that the 2014 Commonwealth Games are the 20th time the games will have been held. The text is more specifically Glaswegian, with its stylised Mackintosh font. A flag featuring the logo was used extensively during the bid process. The flag was flown above Merchant House in George Square daily.^[32]

Games logo

The official logo for the 2014 Commonwealth Games was unveiled on Commonwealth Day, 8 March 2010.^[33] It was inspired by three factors, time, data and measurement. Its rings are proportioned to represent the 20th Commonwealth Games, across 17 sports, over 11 days in 1 city.

References

1. ^ Sports Programme
2. ^ Candidate City File (Page 121)^{[dead link]}
3. ^ Blair enjoys Games as tour begins
4. ^ "BBC News:Scotland:Final push for Glasgow 2014 Games". BBC News website (BBC News). 5 November 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7077966.stm. Retrieved 14 May 2010. 
5. ^ BBC News - Glasgow launches Commonwealth bid
6. ^ BBC Sport - Glasgow reveals 2014 bid sports
7. ^ BBC News - Commonwealth bid city pulls out
8. ^ BBC News - Nigerians keen to host games
9. ^ Glasgow 2014 - The Story so far
10. ^ BBC News - City ahead in Commonwealth race
11. ^ Glasgow 2014 Presentation Transcript
12. ^ The Old Fruitmarket in Pictures
13. ^ Glasgow 2014 - The Venues
14. ^ Glasgow plan makes best use of resources
15. ^ BBC News - Regeneration scheme funding boost
16. ^ Clyde Gateway Project overview
17. ^ Evaluation Report (Page 88)
18. ^ Candidate City File (Page 49)
19. ^ SPT Subway extension plan
20. ^ Evaluation Report (Page 177)
21. ^ Evaluation Report (Page 71)
22. ^ IFDS Glasgow
23. ^ Scotland.org - 'Intelligent Community of the Year-2004'
24. ^ BBC News - City 'nets' new broadband award
25. ^ Glasgow 2014 - Message from the First Minister on the Organising Company
26. ^ Evaluation Report (Page 70)
27. ^ City File (Page 130)
28. ^ Glasgow Commonwealth Games Bill
29. ^ News Games Head
30. ^ Competing Teams at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
31. ^ 2014 Planned Events
32. ^ britishflags.net, Glasgow Commonwealth Games Logo
33. ^ http://www.glasgow2014.com/The+Story+So+Far/Glasgow2014Branding.htm

External links

• Official Glasgow 2014 Website
• Glasgow 2014 Candidate City File
• Commonwealth Games 2014 News
• 2014 Commonwealth Games Evaluation Report
• Commonwealth Games information - Clyde Waterfront
• SECC National Arena - Clyde Waterfront project details

Preceded by Delhi 2010

Commonwealth Games Host city XX Commonwealth Games

Succeeded by Gold Coast 2018