NZ's big wins at a scaled-back Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games are undergoing a significant transformation as host cities scale back the number of sports to reduce costs. This shift has led to the exclusion of several sports where New Zealand traditionally excels, raising concerns about the future stature of the event.
Why it matters
The downsizing of major international sporting events reflects a growing global trend where host cities prioritize fiscal sustainability over the traditional multi-sport format.
Dozens of our top athletes are coming home with hard-fought-for medals from a Commonwealth Games that nearly didn't happen.
But many of our best sports people didn't even attend after Glasgow slashed the number of sports from 20 to 10, in what some say could be a template for future games.
"Host cities can't afford to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on building new facilities for a 10-day sporting event," veteran sports commentator Brendan Telfer says.
Once second only to the Olympics as a multi-sport event, the so-called 'Friendly Games' has lost some of its stature, he says. And future smaller events could be to the detriment of Kiwi athletes.
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