2026 Commonwealth Games Regional Victoria Venues/Stadiums Discussion

[Sammoll]

So with the announcement today that the 2026 Commonwealth Games is going to be hosted by Regional Victoria, I started thinking about what stadiums will be used for the events and what upgrades will be required.

Made this thread to discuss the venues for the 2026 Commonwealth games, share any announcements and keep track of any potential upgrades or new venues over the next 4 years.



Events will be spread between Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo and Gippsland - with the opening ceremony to be at the MCG. The government’s announcement today listed these initial sports alongside a city (see above tweet). There is potential for other sports to be added to the programme, such as Basketball which was played at the 2018 GC Games. But these initial sports are all that’s been confirmed so far.

Based on the government’s announcement I have predicted what venues will be used:

Geelong Cluster

Venue Prediction	Sports	Comments
Kardinia Park Aquatics Centre	Swimming, Diving	Temporary grandstands would need to be erected and spectator facilities upgraded. Good for its proximity to GMHBA Stadium.
Temporary Venue on Geelong Waterfront	Beach Volleyball	Similar to GC’s volleyball stadium in Broadbeach a temporary stadium will probably be build, presumably near Eastern Beach.
Kardinia Park (GMHBA)	T20 Cricket	It feels like a waste for the biggest regional stadium to only host cricket, hopefully another event can be found for it. If they really are committing to a regional games it probably should have the opening ceremony over the G imo.
Geelong Arena	Gymnastics	2,000 seat arena which currently hosts an NBL1 team. Probably will need an upgrade to hold more spectators.
Geelong Hockey Facility, Corio	Hockey	Good quality hockey fields in Geelong’s northern suburbs. Will need grandstands erected, probably temporary.
Geelong Arena	Table Tennis	See above.
Streets of Geelong + Eastern Beach	Triathlon	Good chance to show off Geelong and its waterfront.

Ballarat Cluster

Venue Prediction	Sports	Comments
Mars Stadium	Athletics	Will need to be upgraded to host a larger crowd. A grandstand on the South End seems inevitable at least. Hopefully a new train station built nearby too.
Ballarat Sports and Events Centre	Boxing	Opened in 2019. Seems sufficient in its current state. 3,000 seat basketball court - attendance for Boxing can be higher with additional seats around the ring.
Eastern Oval	T20 Cricket	With Mars used for Athletics this leaves Eastern Oval for cricket. Has hosted WBBL in recent years. Has a low amount of seats, perhaps more will be needed?

Bendigo Cluster

Venue Prediction	Sports	Comments
Many Options (?)	Lawn Bowls	There are numerous pre-existing lawn bowls clubs around Bendigo. Presumably one of these will be selected and some temporary grandstands erected.
Bendigo Stadium	Netball	Good quality 4,000 seat arena. Has recently hosted NBL and Super Netball. Diamonds game would easily sell out but can’t really see how a capacity upgrade would be possible.
Queen Elizabeth Oval	T20 Cricket	Very picturesque oval. Hope it is used for cricket. Will probably need some spectator upgrades (but leave the heritage grandstand alone!) Additional seating could be added to its East side if there is room.
Bendigo Stadium (?)	Squash	Not sure what is required to host Squash. Maybe Bendigo stadium could be configured for it before/after Netball is finished.
Bendigo Stadium	Weightlifting	Would be a suitable venue. But if Squash is to be there as well maybe an additional venue will need to be found.

Gippsland Cluster

Venue Prediction	Sports	Comments
Gippsland Regional Indoor Stadium, Traralgon	Badminton	Recently upgraded arena in Traralgon. Has recently hosted NBL. 3,000 capacity main arena. Should be fine for Badminton.
Latrobe City Stadium, Morwell	Rugby Sevens	The only real rectangular stadium in regional Vic. Has recently hosted A-League and W-League. Will need some pretty solid upgrades though as it’s looking a bit run down.
Ted Summerton Reserve, Moe	T20 Cricket	Has hosted Big Bash recently so is the natural choice for a T20 venue.

Thoughts?

 

[The Victorian]

So with the announcement today that the 2026 Commonwealth Games is going to be hosted by Regional Victoria, I started thinking about what stadiums will be used for the events and what upgrades will be required.

Made this thread to discuss the venues for the 2026 Commonwealth games, share any announcements and keep track of any potential upgrades or new venues over the next 4 years.



Events will be spread between Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo and Gippsland - with the opening ceremony to be at the MCG. The government’s announcement today listed these initial sports alongside a city (see above tweet). There is potential for other sports to be added to the programme, such as Basketball which was played at the 2018 GC Games. But these initial sports are all that’s been confirmed so far.

Based on the government’s announcement I have predicted what venues will be used:

Geelong Cluster

Venue Prediction	Sports	Comments
Kardinia Park Aquatics Centre	Swimming, Diving	Temporary grandstands would need to be erected and spectator facilities upgraded. Good for its proximity to GMHBA Stadium.
Temporary Venue on Geelong Waterfront	Beach Volleyball	Similar to GC’s volleyball stadium in Broadbeach a temporary stadium will probably be build, presumably near Eastern Beach.
Kardinia Park (GMHBA)	T20 Cricket	It feels like a waste for the biggest regional stadium to only host cricket, hopefully another event can be found for it. If they really are committing to a regional games it probably should have the opening ceremony over the G imo.
Geelong Arena	Gymnastics	2,000 seat arena which currently hosts an NBL1 team. Probably will need an upgrade to hold more spectators.
Geelong Hockey Facility, Corio	Hockey	Good quality hockey fields in Geelong’s northern suburbs. Will need grandstands erected, probably temporary.
Geelong Arena	Table Tennis	See above.
Streets of Geelong + Eastern Beach	Triathlon	Good chance to show off Geelong and its waterfront.

Ballarat Cluster

Venue Prediction	Sports	Comments
Mars Stadium	Athletics	Will need to be upgraded to host a larger crowd. A grandstand on the South End seems inevitable at least. Hopefully a new train station built nearby too.
Ballarat Sports and Events Centre	Boxing	Opened in 2019. Seems sufficient in its current state. 3,000 seat basketball court - attendance for Boxing can be higher with additional seats around the ring.
Eastern Oval	T20 Cricket	With Mars used for Athletics this leaves Eastern Oval for cricket. Has hosted WBBL in recent years. Has a low amount of seats, perhaps more will be needed?

Bendigo Cluster

Venue Prediction	Sports	Comments
Many Options (?)	Lawn Bowls	There are numerous pre-existing lawn bowls clubs around Bendigo. Presumably one of these will be selected and some temporary grandstands erected.
Bendigo Stadium	Netball	Good quality 4,000 seat arena. Has recently hosted NBL and Super Netball. Diamonds game would easily sell out but can’t really see how a capacity upgrade would be possible.
Queen Elizabeth Oval	T20 Cricket	Very picturesque oval. Hope it is used for cricket. Will probably need some spectator upgrades (but leave the heritage grandstand alone!) Additional seating could be added to its East side if there is room.
Bendigo Stadium (?)	Squash	Not sure what is required to host Squash. Maybe Bendigo stadium could be configured for it before/after Netball is finished.
Bendigo Stadium	Weightlifting	Would be a suitable venue. But if Squash is to be there as well maybe an additional venue will need to be found.

Gippsland Cluster

Venue Prediction	Sports	Comments
Gippsland Regional Indoor Stadium, Traralgon	Badminton	Recently upgraded arena in Traralgon. Has recently hosted NBL. 3,000 capacity main arena. Should be fine for Badminton.
Latrobe City Stadium, Morwell	Rugby Sevens	The only real rectangular stadium in regional Vic. Has recently hosted A-League and W-League. Will need some pretty solid upgrades though as it’s looking a bit run down.
Ted Summerton Reserve, Moe	T20 Cricket	Has hosted Big Bash recently so is the natural choice for a T20 venue.

Thoughts?

I think GMHBA Stadium is a given for the Closing Ceremony.

 

[JohnZ]

I'm surprised the showgrounds never had a VLine station.

There's an old/disused station between South Geelong and Marshall at the Geelong Showgrounds/Racetrack.

 

[The Victorian]

There is this crazy concept that is illustrated in a promotional video for Mars Stadium where there is no new permanent construction and just one large temporary 25,000 seat scaffold stand. It is highly unlikely that it would get built this way and that the existing members area and eastern stands will be significantly enlarged so that the stadium achieves a permanent 20,000 capacity after the Games. There will be a substantial scaffold stand at the Southern end of the ground that will more likely seat 10-12,000.

View attachment 1391464

Where did you find the promo video?

 

[Teen Wolf]

Where did you find the promo video?

Presumably from this:

 

[TheGreatBambino]

As Dan Andrews said yesterday, more will be revealed after the State Budget next month, and then we will know how much money will be allocated to the games. As with previous Andrews budgets, they are pretty quick off the mark with detailing where moneys will be spent on major projects at the Whitten Oval and Ikon Park. As to how Mars Stadium will be modified? As Mr Andrews said yesterday, he'll leave that one to the architects and the Ballarat Council.

Mars Stadium will possibly be the biggest ticket item because the stadium upgrade there will also involve redevelopment of the old Ballarat Showground (possibly as an athletics warm up track, the clearance and re-purposing of the old John Valves site on the corner of Norman Street and Creswick Road possibly as a temporary car park. There is the likely widening of the Midland Highway from two lanes that runs next to Mars Stadium and there is also the likely construction of a new railway station near mars Stadium. Those things will likely cost as much as the upgrade of the stadium itself.

View attachment 1371116

Further. don't forget that there still are about six further sports to be announced and their venues, so there's still hope for rowing at Nagambie and Beach Volleyball in Shepparton. I actually watched the full announcement on ABC News on Youtube last night and there was a lot of detail revealed at the announcement that wasn't reported in the commercial newscasts.

Hope they don’t demolish the old scoreboard

 

[Chris Lewis]

Good thread, look forward to athletics at mars stadium

 

[My_Username]

I get the idea of any 'new' facilities get built in regional centers. Not sure I agree with it, and I think it'll be a logistical nightmare, but I understand the politics of it and that there is a definite need for good sporting facilities outside the capital.

But when there are perfectly good facilities already in Melbourne ready to be used practically 'as is' (e.g. the state Hockey centre, built for the last games, and used for several big events since), why aren't they going to be used?

 

[My_Username]

Because the Games aren't in Melbourne, otherwise they would be the Melbourne Commonwealth Games Mk2.

As I said, I get all that.

It's just a waste of money to build new facilities when there are pre existing, ready to go, top standard facilities already in place.

The Comm games is going to cost a fortune, is unlikely to recoup much of that, and as with most such 'games', a lot of the facilities will be under/un used afterwards (it's why nobody else wanted it). No harm in saving some money where we can by using existing facilities.

Most facilities will still need to be built, including some of the 'big' ones (there are no top level facilities for swimming and athletics in Melbourne capable of handling a decent crowd for example), but for the 10-20% where such things already exist to the required standard...I say we should use them, particularly when they're just going to be white elephants afterwards (to use my previous example, we barely need/use one international level hockey facility, we certainly don't need 2).

The main focus would still be regional, just without wasting (as much) money.


Of course, if the Gold Coast Comm games is anything to go by, the real issue will be with staffing and logistics, but that's another topic entirely.

 

[The Victorian]

As I said, I get all that.

It's just a waste of money to build new facilities when there are pre existing, ready to go, top standard facilities already in place.

The Comm games is going to cost a fortune, is unlikely to recoup much of that, and as with most such 'games', a lot of the facilities will be under/un used afterwards (it's why nobody else wanted it). No harm in saving some money where we can by using existing facilities.

Most facilities will still need to be built, including some of the 'big' ones (there are no top level facilities for swimming and athletics in Melbourne capable of handling a decent crowd for example), but for the 10-20% where such things already exist to the required standard...I say we should use them, particularly when they're just going to be white elephants afterwards (to use my previous example, we barely need/use one international level hockey facility, we certainly don't need 2).

The main focus would still be regional, just without wasting (as much) money.


Of course, if the Gold Coast Comm games is anything to go by, the real issue will be with staffing and logistics, but that's another topic entirely.

Regional areas always miss out with things like this so it is refreshing to see the regions getting significant investment

 

[My_Username]

Regional areas always miss out with things like this so it is refreshing to see the regions getting significant investment

It's not like they're going to 'miss out' under my suggestion...

Supposedly it'll cost $2.6 Billion...Given this government's record with cost overruns, that'll be well north of $5Billion.

I'm suggesting saving 10-20% by using a few existing facilities....So still spending over $4Billion on what will mostly be white elephants is hardly 'missing out'.

 

[Kwality]

So you are essentially saying to make it a Melbourne only Commonwealth Games. It's not being held there for reasons that I CLEARLY ARTICULATED in my previous post. I don't know if you are being ignorant or just perhaps argumentative.

Thats not how I read that contribution.
I agree with you on most points, however most such events dont leave lasting facilities, e.g a decent aths venue.

The main focus would still be regional, just without wasting (as much) money.

 

[My_Username]

So you are essentially saying to make it a Melbourne only Commonwealth Games. It's not being held there for reasons that I CLEARLY ARTICULATED in my previous post. I hope that you are not being ignorant or just argumentative.

They are not building much in the way of "new facilities", most of the proposed venues already exist and will not be expanded, therefore won't become "white elephants" because they already exist and are used. Apart from building temporary scaffold stands at the Geelong aquatic centre, the lawn bowls venue in Bendigo, at the hockey centre, the beach volleyball venue and a temporary 10,000 seat stand at Mars stadium; The only two (2, that's two) permanent stadium builds will involve a $40 million indoor 4-5000 seat arena for Geelong (to replace its old and undersized existing basketball stadium) and a $50 million upgrade to add 15,000 permanent seats and better lighting at Mars Stadium. That's hardly going to break the bank is it? Small bikkies considering that they're spending $65 million on a 3000 seat grandstand at Punt Road in Melbourne - Heavens, why does everything cost twice as much in Melbourne?

Even if you held the games in Melbourne you'd still have to install scaffold seating at many of the outdoor venues including the Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre. If you put the games in Melbourne you'll just have another Olympic scale games which will just scare off potential future bidders from even trying to compete which is EXACTLY what the Comm Games Federation are desperately wanting to avoid. If a monumental Olympic Games scaled event was staged in Melbourne it would kill the Comm Games off completely in the longer run.

You obviously didn't read my previous post very well because it provided a lot of detail about the venues that you label as "white elephants".

If they're not building new stadiums/stands, then what were all those pretty pictures you had? What are they planning on spending all that money on? You don't spend billions on temp stands.

As for 'Melbourne only', and 'not white elephants'....There are few facilities from 2006 still in use (or even existing) in Melbourne, which is why new places need to be built (and as I repeatedly stated, I'm fine with these being in regional areas)....You might want to think though about why there are so few left...just 16 years later, the hockey centre is the only specific purpose facility still around (off the top of my head), and probably a couple more that mostly get used for all sorts of things. Are you really so sure that 'this time it'll be different' and they wont be white elephants?

 

[My_Username]

I can't put it any clearer.

I think I covered most of this in my last post, but for this..

"Of course, if the Gold Coast Comm games is anything to go by, the real issue will be with staffing and logistics, but that's another topic entirely. "

"How? Do you think that people from the regions wouldn't volunteer? They do have sports competitions in the regions which are professionally conducted on a regular basis, so there are plenty of people quite capable and competent of organising and marshalling large scale sporting events."

I was working at the Comm Games in Gold coast....Media didn't cover it much, but it was a disaster on the staffing level. One city of a million people, and it was just bursting at the seams.

I'm sure regional people will volunteer, but events like this need a LOT of people, for an extended period. You need thousands of cleaners, security, customer service, catering staff and the like. Not just a few locals, but ten thousand+ casual staff, for 3-4 weeks. Add to that that a lot of locals will be busy, because after all, all those tourists will hopefully keep local businesses busy too. GC was flying people in from around the country (particularly those who have some kind of qualification, like security or barstaff). QLD even changed the laws covering these people so out of state qualifications counted for the duration they were so desperate) because they didn't have nearly enough locally. Even with that, they were still short. These people will need accommodation, transport, food, etc. all without disrupting the tourists too much (after all, they're what you're really chasing here)

Then you need to coordinate all those people. You have lots of people, many of whom haven't done anything like it before, don't know the areas, and a lot will be total nuffies (after all, they had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find the numbers) and management who has never done this before (nobody has). Sure, you can bring in teams from other big events, and that'll help, but you can't just cut and paste from something like the grand prix to so many events across numerous venues and 4 major regional hubs. There will be glitches, and while they might seem minor, having a couple of busses go to the wrong place and thus be very late picking up the 50-60 security for the beach volley ball might seem like a fairly minor 'oops', the venue missing those guards wont be able to open because the night shift, which was short handed to start with and is exhausted after a long run of 12 hour shifts and now being pushed into overtime, just isn't equipped to handle the crowds.

Oh, and BTW...If you're going to get your nose out of joint about Melbourne involvement, prepare for some nosebleeds. This whole thing is going to be run from Melbourne. From senior management to phone banks, anything that doesn't need to be in the regions places wont be. There are practical reasons for this though. As I said, when the games are on, those places will be stretched to the limits...If you can spare a bed in Bendigo by having some staff elsewhere, it should be done. It'll also be easier to find/recruit quality/experienced staff (where do you think the people who work on events like the Grand Prix, Australian Open, and AFL grand final tend to live?)

 

[My_Username]

For starters you aren't going to have 7000 athletes and officials co-located in one zone or city like the 2018 Gold Coast Games which BTW has only half a million and not a million spread over a 40 km long coastal front. Bursting at the seams was it? It's the holiday playground of Australia normally packed with tourists, chuck in several thousand athletes and officials, day trippers from Brisbane, a couple of thousand ADF personnel, extra police and it most likely got even busier than normal. But apart from a crappy closing ceremony those games had no significant repotable glitches and it turne a significant profit.

You've already declared the 2026 Games a disaster and we haven't even had the handover at Birmingham yet. You do seem to be very anecdotal and rubbery with your figures. Further more you are free and easy with your back handed insults toward country people by declaring them all "nuffies".

I'm glad that you worked at the 2018 games because I'm sure that that must have given you the strategic oversight of all of the Games operations, or are you simply quoting some more of your anecdotes which you most likely picked up from a bloke named Malcolm who you had a few beers with at a pub whilst he also worked at the games? All big events have minor hiccups which is why the media don't bother reporting.

The 2026 games will be very different to the Gold Coast by being staged at four regional hubs of Victoria where there will be roughly only 1000 to 1800 people concentrated in each location (that's not a lot of people, that's a high school). The layout of Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo is very different to the Gold Coast in that they are very centralised cities with defined CBDs unlike the Gold Coast which doesn't have a CBD. In each of those cities the suburbs only spread several kilometres from their CBDs at their furtherest point which means that the movement of athletes and location of villages and stadia will be relatively concentrated.

As with all Olympic and Commonwealth Games, volunteers are likely to come from all over Victoria and not just the host cities. There's no reason to think that there's going to be shortage of them. After all one quarter of the volunteers for Melbourne 2006 came from regional areas (who'd have thought that?). So that is hardly a challenge. You're honestly trying to make it all sound so hard and so overwhelming. Are you expecting people in the country to run and throw their hands in the air declaring it all too hard? Pffft! You know nothing of country Victorians do you? They are a bit hardier and community minded than that and they're looking forward to conducting this event. Not because it's going to be easy, but because it will be a challenge and presents the opportunity to showcase what they can do. Melbourne is not the only place in the entire Universe capable of coordinating and staging an event. Heavens! It's a small scale sports festival (1000-1800) for each location not the Olympics with 15000. Think of the 2026 Commonwealth Games as being nothing more than four mini-Commonwealth Games with four to five sports events being simultaneously conducted at four different locations - That's it! That's the true and proper perspective on the event.

The only one seemingly getting their nose outta joint is you because you can't deal with the fact that this is not going to be a re-run of Melbourne 2006. Deal with it! The planning will be done no doubt out of a Melbourne office and of course funding will come from Spring Street. You know, Spring Street where the State Parliament is located (Not the Parliament of Melbourne, STATE Parliament for VICTORIA).

Yes, the city of Gold Coast has a bit over half a million people, but the broader region is over a million. Just as Bendigo is ~100K, but there are probably double that within roughly 30 minutes drive. The smaller figure might be strictly accurate, but the larger one is the one that matters when looking at usable resources and infrastructure....People WILL be staying in places like Echuca, and beyond, for the Bendigo events, just as Gold Coast 'leaned on' places such as Brisbane.

You question how I know these things. Fair enough, I haven't (and wont) provide details either of myself or the events. At GC my involvement was fairly peripheral, I observed, reported, but wasn't really involved in any high level meetings or decision making. I have been involved in several major events since where I have been involved more closely however, so I have a fair idea how these things work.

You claim I'm against it being in regional Vic...I'm not...I have little doubt that I'll be asked to work on these games too, and having it stretched out like that will mean more work for me, it'll look good on the resume (and I'll probably be able to charge a higher rate too), so for me, personally, it's a good thing. I just suggested that when venues already existed they should be used to save some money.

Do I have concerns about the capacity to run such an event in 4 different places, none of which have the infrastructure to handle it? Yeah, I do. But that isn't an "I want it in Melbourne" thing, it's a "I've seen what it takes to run a major event and know how tough it can be even when you are setup for it" thing. It's not easy at the best of times, and doing it like this, particularly on short notice ( it's less than 4 years away, GC had 6.5 ), just adds to the degree of difficulty, so yeah, take the easier (and cheaper) route when you can and put a few events in pre-existing venues, even if that means they're in Melbourne.

 

[Kwality]

This is why a separate "Minister for Commonwealth Games Legacy" has been appointed. So that we aren't left with a Heidelburg Village like Melbourne as a lingering legacy of the Melbourne Olympics. At least the 56 Olympics did leave Melbourne Festival Hall and the Olympic Pool which has soldiered on since the mid 80s as a basketball stadium and now as Collingwood's main training and administration facility. The "Minister for Commonwealth Games Legacy's" job is to ensure that cities are consulted to ensure that infrastructure development occurs in a way that benefits and enhances the cities and/or their venues after the Games without leaving behind a legacy of white elephants. Most of the existing venues won't require any upgrading to fixed structures eg. Selkirk Stadium and Bendigo Stadium. Most outdoor venues such as the QEO, Eastern Oval, Stead Park and Geelong Aquatic Centre will get a certain amount of permanent upgrades to their public and club amenities that will benefit those venues long after the Games when the temporary stands and marquees are gone. Kardinia Park shouldn't need any work what so ever as its stands are all relatively new and it has all of the support infrastructure and amenities built in. Ballarat will get the benefit of a new Northern Railway Station (if built). There's also the benefit of 1000s of new houses, whether they be permanent or a mixture of permanent and transportable accommodations that can be sold off to tourism operators after the Games.

As part of the Mars Stadium upgrade, Ballarat will get a state of the art new athletics centre built on either the existing Showgrounds site on the South side of Mars Stadium or to North of Mars Stadium on the former John Valves site. This facility would be used during the Games as the warm up and training track. The new athletics centre is proposed to be a modern international standard facility with competition lighting, a new club pavilion, ample carparking to support large competitions and will have public amenities replace its existing facility at Golden Point (A stone's throw from Sovereign Hill) which was built in the early 1960s. The existing centre is unable to be upgraded because it is landlocked by housing and geography. Carparking at the existing venue during competitions is limited and the 25 year old track surface requires re-surfacing. Athletics Ballarat have proposed to the City of Ballarat that if they get a new state of the art venue at Wendouree that the existing venue can be sold off for private infill housing. If they build it on the South side of Mars Stadium then it can share the new $2 million of amenities that have just been built as part of a recent upgrade at Mars Stadium which would reduce the cost of the athletics centre.

The image below shows Llanberris Reserve. What cannot be illustrated is the layout of the surrounding terrain. The reserve is built cut into a fairly steep hill and the land falls away sharply from the back straight, while the land immediately behind the home straight ascends into a steep rise.

View attachment 1451896

View attachment 1451913

Finally, the cycling velodrome. While logic says that the existing John Cain Arena at Melbourne Park should be used, that doesn't seem to be the thinking of the Games Organisers. This one needs to be dealt with thoughtfully in that it could be over-built if done wrong. There's likely no need for a 5000 seat velodrome in any regional city outside an event like the Comm Games so the facility would need to be semi-permanent in nature. I think that the simplest solution would be to build a large roof/canopy with no side walls and to build the wooden cycle track underneath. This would allow for temporary stands to be placed around the track and removed after the Games. The roof can remain a permanent feature protecting the wooden track from the elements as well as support night lighting for future night competitions and training. The only question then is where to build it?

love your work.

Warragul has a concrete velodrome, & works were scheduled at the Geelong facility. You are probably right about temporary seating given the decision not to use Melbourne facilities.

 

[freddy mercury]

love your work.

Warragul has a concrete velodrome, & works were scheduled at the Geelong facility. You are probably right about temporary seating given the decision not to use Melbourne facilities.

If they don't use the one in Edithvale I'll be pretty pissed off, I'm sure they'll even patch up the missing bits.

 

[The Victorian]

Herald Sun reporting that Cycling could be held in Darebin

The world cycling body UCI in conjunction with Cycling Australia officials have been lobbying to have track cycling included in the Games program by upgrading the Melbourne velodrome at Darebin. The success of having the track events last week in London, but still branding them as part of the Birmingham Games, has been viewed as important.

 

[My_Username]

Herald Sun reporting that Cycling could be held in Darebin

Use a pre existing facility in Melbourne?

Unthinkable!

 

[JohnZ]

John Cain Arena (Below):

Huh. That explains why JCA always looks so weird with all the seating in, it's hiding a velodrome underneath.

 

[Sammoll]

Anyone able to bypass paywall?

Herald Sun:

Stadium issues Victoria must fix for 2026 Comm Games​

https://t.co/96fwAHlvsg

 

[JohnZ]

Anyone able to bypass paywall?

Herald Sun:

Stadium issues Victoria must fix for 2026 Comm Games​

https://t.co/96fwAHlvsg

​

Comm Games​

Don't miss out on the headlines from Comm Games. Followed categories will be added to My News.
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World Athletics chairman Sebastian Coe said the Victoria 2026 plans for a 30,000-spectator athletics stadium at Ballarat will present “challenges” to recreate the electric atmosphere that has been experienced at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Coe, who was also the chair of the London 2012 organising committee, said that while athletes have “understood intimacy” because they have competed without large 60,000 plus crowds in the aftermath of the covid pandemic, the Victoria organisers will have to consider a raft of issues, the most significant one being transportation.
Track and field, the flagship Games sport, will be staged in Ballarat, an hour and a half away from the major population centre of Melbourne.
Victoria 2026 have pencilled in Ballarat to host both the athletics and boxing, and have plans to expand the current Eureka stadium, which normally hosts Aussie Rules and soccer matches, from it current 11,000 capacity to 20,000 as a Games legacy, In addition they plan to add 10,000 temporary seats so that for the Games it can hold 30,000 spectators.

But front of mind for Coe is that the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, which holds 37,000 people has been a sell out for every session including the heats, and is well connected with extensive rail links across the country, attracting supporters from well outside the city and also boasts extensive hotel accommodation.
Coe said: “There is a challenge for Victoria, and actually not dissimilar to Brisbane as well, and I speak with two hats on here, one as my experience in London and also as federation president, we do want to see full stadia.
“People from smaller communities or getting people from smaller communities into providing that sort of atmosphere is a challenge. I get the regionalisation and I get the sound issues about public finance and sustainability but the organiser in me says that will be a challenge, it won’t be insurmountable, but it’s a challenge.’’
Coe is not advocating that the athletics is shifted to the Melbourne Cricket Ground, but rather that the organisers have a fully developed and attractive plan how to move people to the regional areas to attend events.

While communities around Ballarat will be strong supporters of the track and field, it is unlikely they will buy repeat tickets to multiple sessions, and organisers will have to make it easy and attractive for people in bigger population centres to be able to get to and from Ballarat. The town, which has a population of 115,000, has several dozen hotels, but most rooms would be snapped up by teams, support staff, police and security and broadcasters.
World Athletics has just hosted its world championships in Eugene, a similar sized city to Ballarat, where finals nights were sold out, but tickets were still unsold for heat sessions - blamed on little accommodation options and transport difficulties.
In Australia there have been rumours that Coe may be approached to chair the Brisbane 2032 Olympic organising committee, but when it was put to him he was shocked by the suggestion.
“No absolutely not, it is the first time heard that, no,’’ he said.
When asked if he was interested, he replied: “ I mean honestly of all the questions I have been asked in five years, that is absolutely out of left field, no one has uttered the thought, no.”

Coe told NewsCorp Australia that the World Athletics council will consider several important issues at its next meeting in November, including whether Russia will be reinstated after satisfying conditions laid down by the anti doping Taskforce. Russian athletes have been banned because of problems with Russian doping and the testing at the laboratory since 2015, but independent observers have indicated there has been a welcome cultural shift in the way Russia views anti doping.
Coe said in respect to the Russian ban because of drugs issues: “we can see light at the end of the tunnel’’. But Russian Federation and Belarus athletes are also banned because of the war in Ukraine, and for the council to lift that ban they “would have be be satisfied that that situation is normalised enough for Ukraine athletes to be able to train and prepare themselves properly and attend a world championships unfettered”.
The International Olympic Committee is yet to make a decision about whether Russian competitors across all sports can attend the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, but with sports beginning their qualifying periods for the Games soon, it could be that the Russians can’t qualify in any case.

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[magic_johnson!]

Are they pushing to have it in geelong? you’d think the long and skinny ground may even suit (without doing any research????).

 

[The Victorian]

Are they pushing to have it in geelong? you’d think the long and skinny ground may even suit (without doing any research????).

From another forum below- basically saying its about spectator load and that Geelong choose Swimming instead of Athletics.

The threebiggest venues will be the aquatic centre (10-12,000),GMHBA Stadium (Cricket) and Mars Stadium (30,000). Also this is why Ballarat is only hosting three sports at this stage because any additional sports would put a complete strain on its logistics, where as Bendigo is hosting six smaller sports with similar overall spectator capacity across its six venues. Geelong will carry a bigger spectator load in its venues (T20 Cricket, aquatics, gymnastics, hockey and beach volleyball) designed to hold between 3,000 - 40,000. I'd say that people have already seriously put on their thinking caps when they allocated sports and venues because they looked at what the spectator loads would be on eachcity and the implications for catering, transportation,security, road movement and accommodation.

 

[magic_johnson!]

From another forum below- basically saying its about spectator load and that Geelong choose Swimming instead of Athletics.

Hmm, t20 cricket - especially if there’s a mens comp - would have similar usage of the ground as athletics you’d have thought? Less sought after tickets but still probably achieve sell outs?