Where we could have held 2026 Games events
FROM judo to diving and shooting to lawn bowls, Valleys towns could have hosted top-level international sport under nowscrapped plans to bid for the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Earlier this year the Welsh Government announced it had decided not to bid for the event – which would have come with a pricetag of up to £1.5bn – after a major feasibility study found hosting it would not have given Wales any significant economic boost.
However, Economy Secretary Ken Skates has insisted he still wanted Wales to host a Games one day.
The decision not to bid to host the 2026 event – which would have been the first time in Wales since its incarnation as the Em- pire Games in 1958 – was met with some disappointment.
But the feasibility study said that while hosting the Games may have boosted Wales’s reputation on the global stage, it would not register with target markets such as Germany and the US, neither of which are members of the Commonwealth.
There were three options for hosting the 2026 Games – one pan-Wales, one concentrated in the North East and South East, and one just in the South East of Wales.
Valleys towns were included in all three models, with some of the potential venues including:
Rhondda Cynon Taff: diving in Aberdare; judo and wrestling in Treforest
Blaenau Gwent: pistol and full bore shooting in Cwm, triathlon in Tredegar, lawn bowls in Ebbw Vale
Caerphilly: clay target shooting in Blackwood
The South East Wales model, the preferred bid option, could have seen Ebbw Vale hosting the lawn bowls competition.
And Lee Thomas, chair- man of the RTB Ebbw Vale Bowls Club, said the Games would have been a major boost to the town.
“It would have been a massive event to be a part of,” he explained.
“It’s not just the obvious things, such as extra visitors locally, which would have been good for businesses. But as far as the club is concerned it could have helped with costs and the upkeep of the green, and helped towards funding for improvements.”
The feasibility study also outlined some of the disadvantages of not bidding for the Games, including “reputational damage to the Welsh Government and to Wales on the global sporting stage as a result of being seen as unable to bid for and hold this major sporting event”.
It added: “Not bidding might mean that desired investment in new or re- furbished sporting facilities such as a new athletics stadium, aquatics centre and velodrome will not be taken forward either.”
Speaking in July, Mr Skates said the costs of hosting the Games would involve “a huge additional financial commitment from Welsh Government over three Assembly terms”.
He said: “Given the high cost, our understanding that an all-Wales bid was less likely to be supported and the current funding uncertainty following the vote to leave the EU, we have reluctantly concluded that the bid for the 2026 Commonwealth Games is not feasible.”
But Mr Skates added: “Hosting a future Commonwealth Games remains a Welsh ambition and we will continue to discuss flexible delivery options for future bid cycles.”