Commonwealth Games 2026: Phil Batty on Glasgow's plans
2025-01-08
Category: sports

The man charged with delivering Glasgow 2026 says the city will host a "spectacular" Commonwealth Games and that key athletes have already been "hugely positive" about competing.Phil Batty was director of Ceremonies, Culture and Queen's Baton Relay for the Birmingham Games three years ago and is now chief executive officer on the management team organising the event.Buy-in from high-profile athletes such as Olympic gold medallists Keely Hodgkinson and Duncan Scott as well as silver medallist Josh Kerr will be pivotal to the success of the Games - and Batty says things are off to a promising start in that regard."We've had a really warm reaction from athletes looking forward to competing," he tells BBC Scotland Sport."It's a great opportunity in the global calendar of sporting events. For those athletes considering competing in 2026, we're looking forward to welcoming you here. "We've got an amazing sport programme and Para-sport programme and there's an amazing opportunity to put your competition forward on that global stage.  "The reaction so far has been hugely positive and, as we lock in the daily competition schedule and the medal programme, we're looking forward to being able to make more firm plans about who will be here in 2026 to compete."The Games will, however, be battling for the attention of top athletes in a fairly crowded calendar, with the European Championships also scheduled for the end of July 2026.   It all makes for a hectic lead-in for the Glasgow 2026 executive team Batty heads, with little margin for error given the 'year to go' marker is a mere six months away.   Batty is however supremely confident the city, venues and volunteers will be ready to deliver a memorable event, 12 years after the city first hosted the Commonwealth Games.
"2026 is definitely a game-changing moment for the Commonwealth Sport movement," he adds."We've had such successful Games in previous years â in Birmingham, on the Gold Coast, in Glasgow.  "I think people will be looking at Glasgow 2026 and seeing what happens here, and Scotland's contribution to the future of the movement as a really defining moment in the history of the Commonwealth Games."Had Glasgow not stepped in, there would be no Commonwealth Games next year after Victoria pulled out as host over spiralling costs.     If the movement is to survive as a concept, this scaled-down version of previous incarnations is likely to be a blueprint for the survival of the movement, which has its centenary year in 2030."I feel Glasgow's done a really important job in re-setting the Games for future host cities in 2030, 2034 and 2038," says Batty, who is involved in a world-leading drone light show business with expertise in staging global shows and events. "This is a bridge to those new models of delivering the Games. There's no better place in the Commonwealth than Glasgow to be able to do that. "We've got the expertise, we've got the venues, we've got the talent. I'm excited about how this is really going to take the Commonwealth sport movement forward. I see a really positive future for the Commonwealth Games. "He is just days into his new role, but Batty already has a firm idea of what 'success' for the Games looks like."A really successful Games is sold-out venues, amazing sport, world-class cultural programming and a real sense of celebration in the city. I'm confident Glasgow will deliver a spectacular Games in 2026."