Green Army looks to Glasgow
SO WE’RE all off to sunny Glasgow in the summer of 2026. The troubled Commonwealth Games event has finally found a new home, after it was so cruelly spurned by the Australian state of Victoria last year.
The realisation that states and cities can no longer afford the escalating costs of staging such a ‘global event’ – and one that does not always resonate well with everyone, given its links with the British Empire and colonialism – also became very real and the entire existence of the Commonwealth Games was called into doubt.
In the 50-plus years that Guernsey has been sending athletes it’s been largely the highest level of competition that one can aspire to, and offered local competitors a relatively rare opportunity to complete in a Guernsey vest.
The emergence of the Island Games during that period has confused matters somewhat, with, controversially, Commonwealth slots sometimes appearing to be used as warm-ups for potential Island Games medallists.
But still there was no greater celebration locally than when Lucy Beere and Olympian Ala Chalmers came home with their hard-earned medals from Birmingham two years ago. We look forward to returning to Glasgow for the first time since 2014, a refreshed, revamped, Commonwealth Games, and more success for those in green, or red, white and gold.