‘A TOUGH ACT TO FOLLOW’
Commonwealth Games ‘relaunched’ by Gold Coast success
COMMONWEALTH Games Federation President Louise Martin says the Gold Coast will be ”a tough act to follow” following a successful 10 days that have been credited with breathing new life into the event.
THE Gold Coast’s Commonwealth Games have brought new life to the event as the city basks in the afterglow of its greatest sporting spectacle.
Commonwealth Games Federation President Louise Martin admitted the Gold Coast would be “a tough act to follow” as the curtain last night came down on a spectacular 12 days and nights for the Glitter Strip.
After the dubious Delhi Games in 2010, the collapse of Durban’s bid for the 2022 event and with the Gold Coast facing competition for 2018 only from a small town in Sri Lanka, there were fears for the future, but Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Corporation chairman Peter Beattie said it now had a new lease of life.
“We think we have relaunched the Commonwealth Games,” he said.
“The Games were in good shape after Glasgow, don’t get me wrong, but we have given the Commonwealth Games back to Louise in very good order.
“The Para sports program has been incredibly popular, that doesn’t happen at the Olympics and we did it.
“There were the same number of medal events for women as men for the first time ever, so it’s incredibly distinctive what we’ve done.”
Ms Martin said the Games were on the rise. The next instalment is in Birmingham, England, in 2022.
“The Commonwealth Games are more relevant than they have ever been before,” she said. “We started in Glasgow and it was just the first steps on the ladder.
“Gold Coast has certainly shown the way we want to go. “It’s a hard act to follow.” The sporting side of the Games has been hailed as a runaway success, though elements of the business community were left waiting for a financial windfall that never came.
Mr Beattie said the blame for that did not rest with GOLDOC.
“There was feast and famine, but our job was to deliver a world-class sporting event and we did that,” he said.
“We did everything we could, but we can’t force people to go in to a particular restaurant.”
He had little sympathy for hotels and resorts which jacked up rates to exorbitant prices only to be left with empty rooms.
“Some of the businesses early who tried to gouge people, in the end karma came back at them,” the former Queensland premier said.
“Those who charged a reasonable prices did well, those who tried to gouge didn’t.
“At the end of the day that was karma in action.”