GLASGOW 2026 COMMONWEALTH GAMES GENERATED £233M FOR SCOTLAND

The Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games delivered an estimated £158.6 million boost to the Glasgow city region, according to the Glasgow 2026 Impact Evaluation report. The evaluation found the Games generated £233 million in economic activity across Scotland as a whole. Phil Batty, chief executive of Glasgow 2026, said the event showed "what can happen when you build a games around the strengths of a place and the people who make it special." He added that the report provided "evidence that we delivered great sport and a proud Glasgow welcome, while creating opportunities for people across Scotland to be part of something altogether brilliant." The Games supported 2,400 full-time equivalent years of employment, and 82 students were offered Games-time roles, the evaluation found.

A total of 2,749 athletes from 74 Commonwealth nations competed in 10 sports and six para-sports events over 11 days. Athletes set 152 Commonwealth Games records and six world records during that period, the evaluation stated. Around one million people in Scotland attended the Games in person, and a global television audience of 510 million watched, the report found. The report said community activity linked to the Games reached every local authority area in Scotland.

Staging the Games cost less than £160 million, the evaluation found. Batty said: "Our ambition was for a more sustainable games," adding that the report showed organisers had left "a valuable legacy" for Scotland. Robyn Love, Team Scotland's 3x3 wheelchair basketball player-coach, said after winning silver: "To come away with a silver medal at a home games was the stuff of dreams." She added that "Glasgow 2026 will live with me for the rest of my life."