VICTORIA 2026 organisers have said they are confident they can make the regional Commonwealth Games a success despite the challenging logistics of hosting events across four different regions.<\/p>\n
The Games will be held from 17 to 29 March, 2026 across Ballarat, Geelong, Gippsland and Bendigo.<\/p>\n
Given the distance between the four regional hubs, it would be impractical to attend events at two different regions in one day.<\/p>\n
Speaking in Birmingham on Sunday, Victoria 2026 chief executive Jeroen Weimar said each hub would have well-organised transport and scheduling that encouraged spectators to spend the day in one place instead of taking lengthy road trips.<\/p>\n
For example, all events in Bendigo would be within walking distance of the CBD, while athletics and boxing in Ballarat will both be at the same Eureka Park complex.<\/p>\n
“We will absolutely concentrate on making the hubs work and that’s why the hub model for us is really important,” Mr Weimar said.<\/p>\n
“We will be actively putting a transport solution in place that ensures that people will go to Geelong for the day and will be able to see five or six or seven world-class sports within Geelong.<\/p>\n
“We’re not realistically going to be encouraging spectators to say ‘I’m going to do a morning of Rugby Sevens then an afternoon of swimming’ – that will be a very logistically challenging thing for the public to do.”<\/p>\n
The MCG will host the opening ceremony but athletics will be held at Ballarat’s Mars Stadium.<\/p>\n
The MCG was used to great success for athletics in Melbourne in 2006 but Weimar said upgrading and filling the smaller Ballarat ground was a more appealing option.<\/p>\n
“Alexander Stadium (in Birmingham) last night was absolutely pumping because it’s a 30,000 capacity stadium which is completely rammed full. That’s what creates the atmosphere,” Mr Weimar said.<\/p>\n
“We’ve all known that when you sit in a 100,000 seater stadium and it’s got 30,000 people, it feels deathly.<\/p>\n
“So we would much rather have venues that are packed full of people that are energised, that are focused and I think that’s why the regional games work really well.”<\/p>\n
Mr Weimar also said organisers were having ongoing conversations with AFL and Formula One about their calendars but stressed they wouldn’t move the Games dates.<\/p>\n
There are 16 sports, including six para sports, locked in for Victoria 2026 and Mr Weimar anticipated “three or four more” would be added, with Games organisers keen to attract a younger audience.<\/p>\n
He said around 20 international sports federations had expressed interest but sports need to enter their submissions by 19 August.<\/p>\n
“We want sport where we’re going to see significant participation across the Commonwealth,” Weimar said.<\/p>\n
“We don’t just want to be in an England-Australia shootout for every final.”<\/p>\n
Track cycling is among those yet to be included in the program but Weimar said there had been conversations with the UCI.<\/p>\n
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