Focus on what it may mean for NZ after Commonwealth Games sports are cut back - Barry Guy

Paul Coll (left) and Joelle King (right) celebrate winning the mixed doubles squash gold at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Photo / Photosport

By Barry Guy, RNZ

THREE KEY FACTS

• Ten sports, including rugby sevens, hockey, and squash, have been cut from the Commonwealth Games.
• Track cycling, swimming, and athletics remain, with New Zealand’s athletes likely to contend for medals.
• Sevens has been a profitable sport for New Zealand since 1988.

New Zealand should still expect to feature highly on the medal table at the next Commonwealth Games despite the programme being cut back.

A scaled-back Games of 10 sports has been confirmed for Glasgow for 2026 with rugby sevens, hockey, squash, road cycling, mountain biking and wrestling among the sports to be axed.

Glasgow, who hosted the Games in 2014, came to the rescue after the Australian state of Victoria pulled out of hosting because of costs.

In 2026, Glasgow will host athletics and para athletics, swimming and para swimming, artistic gymnastics, track cycling and para track cycling, netball, weightlifting and para powerlifting, boxing, judo, lawn bowls and para bowls, 3x3 basketball and 3x3 wheelchair basketball.

Rugby sevens has been a profitable sport for New Zealand since it was introduced in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 with six gold medals.

However, they do have a World Series and a World Cup and are a part of the Olympics.

The Commonwealth Games has been the pinnacle event for squash with New Zealand winning five gold medals since 1998, three of those came in 2022 in Birmingham.

The sport has been included in the 2028 Olympic Games so there is something for those athletes to aim for.

Cricket is also out and after their win in the T20 World Cup on Monday the White Ferns would have liked a return to the Commonwealth Games in the hopes of improving on the bronze medal they won in Birmingham.

Triathlon is a sport that New Zealand regularly features in around the world with Hayden Wilde a two-time Olympic medallist and the sport will be missed.

Fortunately track cycling, swimming and athletics, three of New Zealand’s most successful sports in recent times, are on the programme.

Cyclists won eight gold medals at the velodrome in 2022, swimming won five and athletics two.

Track cycling was the most successful sport for New Zealand at this year’s Paris Olympics and with the programme they now have in place it appears likely to do well in Glasgow. However, it is unfortunate that the road cyclists and mountain bikers won’t be there. Sam Gaze and Anton Cooper have between them won the last three men’s mountain bike gold medals.

World champion swimmers Erika Fairweather and Lewis Clareburt should feature on the podium if they get to Glasgow and a growing group of young swimmers should help the revival of the sport at the games.

Athletics is the same with a number of internationally ranked athletes in their ranks.

New Zealand won 50 medals at Birmingham 2022, 20 gold, 12 silver and 18 bronze.

If the sports that have now been culled were taken out of that total New Zealand would have finished with 38 medals – 16 gold, 10 silver and 12 bronze.

Cutbacks were necessary for these games to take place and hopefully this will be a good reset for the event allowing it to become more efficient in the future.