![Australia would have to jump over hurdles but there is a way to save the Commonwealth Games. Picture by Keegan Carroll Australia would have to jump over hurdles but there is a way to save the Commonwealth Games. Picture by Keegan Carroll](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/36vwtM5n3dmMVgNPycRBEHz/3d0eb749-6ad9-4ca4-bd0b-ba7e815f89bc.jpg/r0_178_5000_3200_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
You can almost hear the Commonwealth Games being read its last rites.
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The Victorian government has backed out of a deal to host the 2026 Games, citing a forecast cost blowout from $2.6 billion to up to $7 billion. Organisers will tell you the state government ignored cost-cutting options like moving the event to Melbourne.
The easy thing to do would be to take the Games behind the back shed and put it down, all while the debate about why the Victorian government put its hand up to save the event and then walk away rages on in the foreground.
But are we over-simplifying things?
State and territory governments rushed to distance themselves from hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games, and you couldn't blame them if Dan Andrews' maths is on the money.
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But what if we spread the Games further than Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo and Gippsland? Maybe out to Canberra, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney and Brisbane? There are logistical hurdles to be jumped over, but it's possible.
Send the swimmers to Adelaide. Perth is the jewel in Hockey Australia's crown. Athletes can dream of reprising Cathy Freeman's heroics - albeit on a smaller stage - at Sydney Olympic Park. Allan Border Field isn't being used for too much, is it? Play some squash in Canberra as part of the Commonwealth's travelling roadshow.
Infrastructure costs aren't much of a concern if you go where the infrastructure already stands.
You might think the case has more holes than a Bonnie and Clyde getaway car at first glance. Less so if state and territory governments can agree to share the costs, which would be scaled depending on the size of the events they host, with the federal government also agreeing to dip into their own pockets.
But isn't the buzz of hosting an event like the Commonwealth Games the fact it's all in one place? Hardly. Look around, Australia and New Zealand are about to host the FIFA Women's World Cup and put nine different cities on a global stage. Canberra isn't one of them, but that's a story for another day.
![Madison de Rozario became the first para-athlete to win four Commonwealth Games gold medals. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong Madison de Rozario became the first para-athlete to win four Commonwealth Games gold medals. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/36vwtM5n3dmMVgNPycRBEHz/ec6bc8c9-40d5-4015-a56f-24a73309000b.jpg/r0_0_5338_3013_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
What about the opening ceremony? We can scrap that. How often are you genuinely captivated by watching groups of people walk into a stadium and wave into the abyss?
Let's just worry about the competition. Wait, what competition? Didn't we top the medal count in Birmingham last year with nine more golds than the next best, and 41 more than the mob after that?
The Commonwealth Games is not about proving Australia's might over Niue, Guernsey and Saint Lucia. Easy narrative, sure.
The Commonwealth Games are a crucial stepping stone to the Olympic Games. We might think we're doing fine because Australian athletes cleaned up in Birmingham and had some success in Tokyo.
But take a crucial international competition away from our athletes and see what kind of impact it has on their confidence when they reach the bigger stages at the Olympics.
Swimming Australia head coach Rohan Taylor says the Commonwealth Games provide a "really important" part of the build up to Brisbane's 2032 Olympics, and hopes the Commonwealth's 2026 edition will be relocated.
"It's disappointing for the Australian public to miss out on having that event, which we know is a great opportunity for our athletes to represent their country ... in front of home crowds," Taylor said.
"Hopefully we will see what option the Commonwealth Games Federation come up with, where it could be hosted.
"That's a really important competition for not only swimming but our nation, particularly with the build-up to Brisbane, it's always good to have international competition."
Swimmers have dominated Australia's medal hauls at Commonwealth Games, claiming 734 - including 307 gold - of the nation's 2596 medals overall.
![Australian Sports Commission boss Kieren Perkins. Picture by Karleen Minney Australian Sports Commission boss Kieren Perkins. Picture by Karleen Minney](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/36vwtM5n3dmMVgNPycRBEHz/26e9082c-6f40-4067-9e9b-73b1ea9e0cfe.jpg/r0_247_5568_3390_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Paralympic swimming champion Rowan Crothers said scrapping the world's biggest event featuring athletes with a disability alongside able-bodied athletes would "suck".
"For some athletes, a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games means more than a gold medal at the Paralympics [because] it's not just a similar level, it's the exact same thing the able-bods get," he tweeted.
Ama Agbeze captained England to netball gold at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games and fears the implications the decision to potentially scrap the 2026 edition could have on the sport.
Netball, unlike so many other sports, does not have the comfort of the Olympics.
"Most other sports have the Olympics as their pinnacle but the Commonwealth Games is right up there with our World Cup," Australian Diamonds captain Liz Watson said.
"Fingers crossed it's still held and hopefully somewhere in Australia as well."
Australian Sports Commission chief executive officer Kieren Perkins once said "inspiration was everywhere" when he visited Birmingham for the 2022 Games. He was convinced the regional approach to 2026 could work to great effect and makes the Games more accessible.
"There's no doubt that the Commonwealth Games federations internationally have got a very big challenge on their hands ... finding a new venue or a new country that is willing to take it on," Perkins said.
"To be able to put it together is going to be quite a significant task.
"This will be a very big test for the Commonwealth Games sporting associations to see what the commitment is to the event going forward, how it can actually be delivered, and how can we continue to hold on to what really has been world leading in being a multi-sport event where both para and able bodied athletes were co-existing."
Surely there's a way. All part of Australian sport's golden decade, right?
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