The 2014 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF). It took place in Glasgow, Scotland, from 23 July to 3 August 2014.
Glasgow was selected as the host city on 9 November 2007 during CGF General Assembly in Colombo, Sri Lanka, defeating Abuja, Nigeria. It was the largest multi-sport event ever held in Scotland with around 4,950 athletes from 71 different nations and territories competing in 18 different sports, outranking the 1970 and 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.
The Games received acclaim for their organisation, attendance, and the public enthusiasm of the people of Scotland, with CGF chief executive Mike Hooper hailing them as "the standout games in the history of the movement". Held in Scotland for the third time, the Games were notable for the successes of the Home Nations of the United Kingdom, with England, Wales and hosts Scotland achieving their largest ever gold medal hauls and overall medal hauls at a Commonwealth Games. England finished top of the medal table for the first time since the 1986 Commonwealth Games, also held in Scotland. Kiribati also won its first ever medal at a Commonwealth Games, a gold in the 105 kg men's weightlifting competition. These were the final Commonwealth Games to be opened by Elizabeth II; the final two Games of her reign—in 2018 and 2022—were opened by her son, the then-Prince Charles.
Host selection
Scotland was the first country to consider hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games in 2004, with Scottish cities being invited by the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland to consider making a bid. In September 2004, Glasgow was announced as the Scottish candidate city over Edinburgh (which hosted the Games in 1970 and 1986, and the inaugural Commonwealth Youth Games in 2000) following a cost-benefit analysis by the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland. The Scottish Executive under then First Minister of Scotland, Jack McConnell, with the support of the United Kingdom government and all main parties in the Scottish Parliament, formally announced Glasgow's intention to host the games on 16 August 2005.
In March 2006, the bidding process began, with the Glasgow Bidding team presenting their case to the Commonwealth Games Federation at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, along with the other confirmed candidate cities; the Nigerian capital, Abuja and Halifax in Canada. In October 2006, the first voting delegates arrived in Glasgow, to inspect the city's existing and proposed amenities and facilities. Glasgow announced on 16 January 2007, the 17 sports to be included should its bid be successful. Halifax later withdrew its bid on 8 March 2007, following the withdrawal of funding from the provincial government.
That left Abuja and Glasgow as the remaining bidders, with Abuja seen as a likely favourite due to the basis of its campaign that an African nation has never before hosted the Commonwealth Games. The deadline for formal submission of bids to the Commonwealth Games Federation, in the form of a Candidate City File, was set for May 2007. Both bids were highly recommended, though Glasgow's bid team had made use of extensive benchmarking against the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and as a result, its bid was deemed technically superior according to the CGF Evaluation Report that was released in September 2007. The Commonwealth Games Evaluation Commission concluded that: "Glasgow has shown it has the ability to stage the 2014 Commonwealth Games to a standard which would continue to enhance the image and prestige of the Games." This put Glasgow ahead in terms of the technical comprehensiveness of its bid.
The final decision on the host city of the 2014 Commonwealth Games was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 9 November 2007 at the Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly, attended by all 71 Commonwealth Games member associations. Each bid city made a presentation to the General Assembly, the order of which was determined by drawing lots. Glasgow's delegation was led by Louise Martin, chair of the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland, First Minister Alex Salmond, athlete Jamie Quarry and Leader of Glasgow City Council Steven Purcell. The presentation also included a promotional film narrated by Sean Connery. Abuja's delegation was led by General Yakubu Gowon, head of the Abuja 2014 Commonwealth Games bid team.
The CGF members later voted for their preferred candidate in a secret ballot. As there were only two bids, the winner was announced by the CGF President, Mike Fennel, after the first round of voting, with the winner only requiring a simple majority. The results of the bidding process were as follows:
+ 2014 Commonwealth Games bidding resultsCityCountryVotes Glasgow 47 Abuja 24
Development and preparation The Glasgow 2014 Organising Committee was responsible for organising and delivering the Games. It was established as a limited company whose members included the Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council and Commonwealth Games Scotland. Glasgow City Council was responsible for delivering a number of the venues and lasting benefits from the Games for the city and people of Glasgow. The Scottish Government was the third organisation in the partnership and was the main funder of the Games. Lord Robert Smith was the chairman of the Glasgow 2014 Organising Committee.
Venues
Celtic Park hosted for the opening ceremony of the Games. The Commonwealth Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome precinct, situated at Parkhead in the East End of the city, hosted the Badminton as well as Track cycling. Glasgow Green was the starting point for the free Athletics (Marathon), Cycling (Road Race) and Cycling (Time Trial) events. Glasgow Green was the venue for Field hockey and saw the construction of a new Glasgow Green Hockey Centre. Tollcross International Swimming Centre, was the venue for Swimming events. It already had one Olympic standard 50 metre swimming pool, which was extensively upgraded, and a second 50-metre pool was added for the Games as a warm-up facility. The existing permanent seating capacity was increased by 1,000. Combined with additional temporary seating the venue had over 5,000 seats for the Games.
Ibrox Stadium, in the South Side, was the venue for the Rugby Sevens tournament. Mountain biking was held on the Cathkin Braes in Rutherglen, the Royal Burgh neighbouring the city. Hampden Park hosted all the track and field events as well as the closing ceremony.
The Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, located in the West End of the city, hosted the Wrestling, Judo and Boxing, as well as the Main Press Centre and the International Broadcast Centre, benefiting from its strategic position adjacent to the headquarters of BBC Scotland and STV at Pacific Quay. The Clyde Auditorium hosted Weightlifting, whilst the new OVO Hydro was used for the Gymnastics and Netball events. Kelvingrove Park, also in the city's West End, was the venue for Bowls and has five bowling greens installed for competitive use. A comprehensive upgrade and refurbishment of the park was completed ahead of the Games. Scotstoun Leisure Centre hosted Table tennis and Squash.
The Shooting competitions took place at the Ministry of Defence full-bore rifle and clay target ranges at Barry Buddon, near Dundee, which were also used in the 1986 Commonwealth Games. There were temporary ranges built for the small-bore rifle and pistol events. Diving was held at the Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh, located 45 miles (72 km) to the east, which held the annual Edinburgh Festival at the same time as the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Strathclyde Country Park, beside Hamilton and Motherwell, hosted the Triathlon event.
Athletes' village The Athletes' Village for the 2014 Commonwealth Games was situated on a site, in Dalmarnock, Glasgow. The whole project was designed by RMJM. Primarily the site was used as accommodation for the athletes competing in the games as well as team officials from every competing nation for the duration of the games. As well as accommodation, the athletes' village also housed a retail zone, dining hall, medical facilities, gym, religious centre and recreational spaces.
Countdown
The countdown clock was unveiled at the Glasgow Central Station on 10 March 2014 during the Commonwealth Day. The clock was sponsored by the Swiss watchmaker Longines. A special ceremony was organized for the clock inauguration at the station which was attended by the members of the organising committee of the Games and Scottish swimmer Michael Jamieson.
Budget The total budget for the Games was £575.6 million. This figure included £472.3 million for Glasgow 2014 and £90 million for security. The Glasgow 2014 budget of £472.3 million was made up of £372 million of public money with the remainder coming from commercial income generated through sponsorship, ticket sales, broadcasting rights and merchandise sales. The budget included contingency of £66.1 million, which was made up of a £42.3 million general contingency and £23.8 million special reserves. In February 2015, it was reported that the Games was delivered £35.5 million under budget.
Ticketing
The first round of the Games ticket sales were from 19 August to 16 September 2013. Over two-thirds of tickets sold were priced at £25 or less. The ticket price ranges for the opening ceremony and the closing ceremony were £40-£250 and £30-£200 respectively. The 100m men's final event received over 100,000 applications which was the most of any event of the Games. Boxing had the most expensive ticket of any sport in the Games whose category 1 tickets cost £120. A total of 96% of tickets were sold. Ticketmaster was the official ticket services provider of the Games.
Medals The medals for the Games were unveiled on 14 April 2014 at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow. The medals were designed and hand-crafted by the renowned jeweller Jonathan Boyd and a team of specialist jewellery-makers from the prestigious Glasgow School of Art. The hand-turned quaichs gifted to winning athletes and the carved ceremonial podiums were all created from local woods by Glasgow-based artisan Paul Hodgkiss. Scottish designer Kerry Nixon designed the medalbearers' dresses.
Queen's baton relay
The Queen's Baton Relay began its 190,000 km journey on 9 October 2013. The baton travelled via 70 nations and territories over 288 days before opening the games on 23 July 2014. At the ceremony, 32 volunteers from across Scotland carried the baton around Celtic Park Stadium after being nominated for giving their time to developing the nation's youth through sport. The baton was then passed to Sir Chris Hoy, who delivered it to President of the Commonwealth Games Federation Prince Imran and the Queen who then declared the games open.
The Queen's Baton was designed by the Glasgow-based firm 4c Design. The BBC provided coverage of the relay. Adventurer Mark Beaumont presented a series of documentaries filmed on the relay for BBC One Scotland, there were also weekly updates for BBC News and a BBC News website and blog written by Mark.
Transport Glasgow Airport was used to welcome and depart the athletes and officials of the Games. The main terminal building of Glasgow Airport was upgraded at a cost of £17 million.