On the Scene - Gold Coast 2018 Puts Focus Upon Athletes, Fun

(ATR) Queensland Premier Anna Bligh tells Around the Rings there's a lot the Commonwealth Games can offer Gold Coast, but there's also something Gold Coast can offer the Commonwealth Games.

"This ultimately comes down to what delegates believe the Games are and what they want them to be in the coming decades," she says.

Whether the Australian city gets to deliver will be decided Friday in St. Kitts at the close of the Commonwealth Games Federation's annual general assembly.

Hambantota, Sri Lanka is the other bidder.

Founded on Fun

At present, the Games are the world's third largest multi-sport event.

"If they want to hold that position in a world where nations are developing at a rate unprecedented in human history and globalizing exponentially, then you've got to be very competitive about the spectator experience that you're offering," Bligh tells ATR.

As a city "founded on fun" and dependent on tourism, she adds, Gold Coast can offer the Games not only a venue but also an attitude.

"It's a very multicultural city that has a lot of experience in welcoming people from around the world and showing them a good time," says Bligh.

"If that's the basis of your economy, then you have to always be looking to secure a new event and to put yourself on the international radar in new markets. There's no doubt that an event like the Commonwealth Games could do that for the Gold Coast."

About the Athletes

With white sand beaches and a network of pools lying just outside, bid chair Mark Stockwell seems to be spending the bulk of his stay indoors.

His home base is Gold Coast City, a makeshift lounge where he's busy lobbying voters from the CGF's 71 member nations.

Despite the long week ahead of him, Stockwell tells ATR the hard work has actually been done ahead of time and that the most important task remaining is simply to be himself.

"We've actually been to 15 countries over the past four months. We've been out talking to people and listening and asking them what their issues are," he says.

"So really the next couple of days for us is about listening, steering the course and telling the delegates why we're here.

"We're interested in the athletes and the whole of the Games experience for the athletes."

That comes as no surprise from the husband of three-time Olympic swimming champion Tracy Caulkins.

"What are they going to eat? What are they going to drink? Where are they sleeping? What are the travel times to the venues?" asks Stockwell, himself a three-time Olympic swim medalist.

"All those things that influence and affect athletes – that's really what our focus is."

Whether athletes will also be the focus of Friday's final presentation – and whether any besides Stockwell will play a part – remains to be seen.

Leveraging the Past

Gold Coast already boasts a mature tourism market, robust transport infrastructure and most all the venues needed to host come 2018.

Stockwell, however, cites Australia's many sports associations and organizations as perhaps its most valuable assets.

"To hold the Games, you have must good technical officials who can run the events," he stresses.

"It's that sort of expertise that we have in Australia, and that's very helpful."

Bligh echoes the importance of knowledgeable personnel, specifically those who cut their teeth on the Sydney 2000 Olympics and Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.

"Whether it's event management, sports administration, intellectual property or all the associated sports infrastructure," she says, "there's a lot of people with a lot of expertise that we would be drawing on to make this an incredible event."

Should the bid be successful, the 2018 Commonwealth Games would be the only multi-sport international event Australia hosts in the next decade.

As a regional city of only 500,000 people, Gold Coast must be realistic about considering anything larger like the Olympics, according to the Queensland Premier.

The lessons learned, Bligh says, would instead go toward a blueprint that could dramatically boost the number of potential Commonwealth Games hosts, both in Australia and abroad.

"We're looking to develop this as a model for how other regional cities of Commonwealth countries or smaller cities of smaller Commonwealth nations could aspire to host a successful Commonwealth Games without some of the size of the infrastructure that might ultimately be a white elephant given the size of the city that they're a part of," she explains.

Not Smearing Sri Lanka

As the host of four past editions, Australia is tied with Canada for the Commonwealth Games record.

Despite this history, Stockwell tells ATR he's not worried about having to stem the same tide of frontierism that is sending the 2014, 2016 and 2018 Olympics to new territories as well as the 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups.

"It's not a big issue because India hosted the Games last year, and Sri Lanka sits at the bottom of India," Stockwell says.

"In the rules, you can't hold two Games in succession in the same region, so they do look at this regionally as well."

When asked about how he highlights the "low risk" of a Gold Coast Games in comparison to the "medium to high risk" of Hambantota's bid, Stockwell says he does only the former and not the latter.

"We talk about our bid, and they talk about their bid," he insists, adding that no one will hear him make any link between the troubles of Delhi 2010 and any potential dangers posed by Hambantota 2018.

"Strategically, we let them do what they do, and we stay focused on what we do."

Defining a Legacy

To be exact, Gold Coast 2018 was labeled low risk "subject to Village development arrangements being secured" in the CGF Evaluation Commission's official report.

Stockwell says the plan in place is underwritten by the state of Queensland so there's no danger whatsoever that assurances won't be delivered.

According to the bid chair, Australia's fastest growing university is next door, a new $1.3 billion public hospital offers 5,000 jobs and a light-rail network is on its way as well.

"With all of that coming together in this health and knowledge precinct, we're not building accommodations for rich people," he says. "We're building them for students and workers."

If that's the tangible legacy of a Gold Coast Games, then the intangible legacy is one of pride.

"Because these are complex events to run, when you run the Games successfully, what that does to the confidence of a city is huge, so the chief legacy is what's left in the minds and the hearts and the future aspirations of the people," says Stockwell, again referencing his bid's focus upon the athletes at every step of the way.

"Unless you get the best athletes in the Commonwealth countries competing in the best conditions and being able to break world records, unless you can do that, the competition is at risk," he tells ATR.

"I think that's our real legacy. I think that's our edge."

Written and reported in St. Kitts by Matthew Grayson.

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