Melbourne, Australia 2006
The Australian city of Melbourne, successfully hosted the XVIII Commonwealth Games between the 15 and 26 March 2006.
Whilst Bendigo, the venue for the 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games, and Lilydale hosted two of the shooting disciplines the majority of the sports venues were located along the Yarra River and within the city precinct. The Opening and Closing Ceremonies as well as the athletics competition took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), one of the world's largest and most outstanding outdoor sporting grounds. The Athletes Village was located within three kilometres of the city centre.
For the first time in the history of the Games the Queen's Baton visited every single Commonwealth nation and territory taking part in the Games, a journey of 180,000 kms (112,500 miles). The relay ended when the Governor of Victoria, and former Commonwealth Games medallist, John Landy delivered the baton to Her Majesty the Queen at the Melbourne Cricket Ground during the Opening Ceremony.
The sports on the programme were:
- Aquatics (diving, swimming & synchronised swimming)
- Athletics
- Badminton
- Basketball
- Boxing
- Cycling (track & road)
- Gymnastics
- Hockey
- Lawn Bowls
- Netball
- Rugby 7s
- Shooting
- Squash
- Table Tennis
- Triathlon
- Weightlifting
There were approximately 5,766 athletes and team officials in attendance in Melbourne with the home nation having the largest team with 535 athletes and officials and the volcanic island of Montserrat the smallest with 4 members.
This was the fifth Games that Australia had hosted and the first time since 1982. Over recent years Melbourne has clearly positioned itself as the sports capital of a ‘sports mad’ country, and following the success of old rivals Sydney with the 2000 Olympics and of the Manchester Games they had a point to prove, and prove it they did. These were the biggest Games yet, run on an almost Olympic scale and the challenge of meeting the Commonwealth’s dominant country on home soil had if anything got harder.
With the Games being out of season for the Scots and Judo our major medal winning sport from Manchester dropped from the programme, a revised medal target of 15 was set prior to departure. Alongside Judo, Wrestling was the other sport omitted with Basketball making its debut, while Scotland did not qualify in Netball and no Table Tennis players were selected.
Again an extensive preparation programme had been put in place with the general selection standard tightening from Manchester into a top eight or better standard. This resulted in a team of 169 athletes plus staff attending the Games.
Clydesdale Bank and Emirates Airline came forward as major partners and following his first hand viewing of the Scottish performances in 2002, the First Minister established an Endowment Fund to take the pressures off the need to fundraise and allow us to focus on preparing the Team. This enabled the establishment of a Team Holding Camp to allow acclimatisation to the travel and Australian environment, which was established two hours away in Bendigo, venue of the 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games and a Scottish Centre in the heart of Melbourne to provide a base for Team supporters.
In the four years since Manchester, Scotland had staked its intention to bid to host the Games in 2014 and Scotland’s First Minister, Jack McConnell was in Melbourne to support the Team and the Glasgow 2014 Bid, the first opportunity to meet with Commonwealth delegates and make their case.
Manchester was a hard act to follow in a number of ways both from an organisational viewpoint and in terms of Scottish results, but Melbourne topped it. Not only did our athletes do themselves proud winning a total of 29 medals (11 gold, 7 silver 11 bronze) and having their most successful Games ever, but their exploits inspired a nation with a huge public welcome on their return home and a number of awards and accolades being quite rightly bestowed on the Team and individuals. The response showed that the Commonwealth Games remain of great importance to Scotland and central to the goals of our athletes, as the only multi-sport event where Scotland can compete as a nation in its own right.
Go to Scotland's Highlights to read all about Team Scotland's record breaking performance in Melbourne, where the Swimming was the top sport winning 12 medals.