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Glasgow to Open a Lean Commonwealth Games After Victoria Pulls Out

Organisers have rescued the event by reusing 2014 venues and cutting the programme to 10 core sports to contain costs.

Overview

  • The Games open Thursday, July 23, in Glasgow with about 3,000 athletes from 74 nations contesting 215 medal events in a compact, reuse-focused format.
  • Organisers pared the programme to 10 sports and removed disciplines such as wrestling, badminton, table tennis, hockey, T20 cricket and shooting to avoid new venue and security costs.
  • Glasgow is using existing 2014 arenas and housing athletes in hotels and university accommodation instead of building an athletes’ village to keep the event low-cost.
  • India has finalised a roughly 124–126 athlete contingent led by Neeraj Chopra, Mirabai Chanu and Lovlina Borgohain but analysts say the programme cuts will sharply reduce the country’s medal opportunities compared with Birmingham 2022.
  • Victoria withdrew in July 2023 after projected costs rose to an estimated AUD 6–7 billion and Glasgow’s scaled-down edition is being framed as a test of a smaller, more sustainable model for future multi-sport events.