The ‘bid team’ did a great job winning the Games for Glasgow. The team was made up of people from Commonwealth Games Scotland – who pick the teams that represent Scotland at each Games, Glasgow City Council, the Scottish Government and a whole range of other supporters. After the Games were awarded to Glasgow in November 2007, the bid team gradually moved back into their parent organisations and the Organising Committee was then set up.
Lord Smith of Kelvin was appointed the OC’s Chairman early in 2008 and I started as Chief Executive in August. I see my role as making sure we put on an outstanding Games; One that will do Glasgow and all of Scotland proud. We must always remember that we need to meet all the athletes’ needs to ensure they are completely focused on their performance – whether that’s in the design and building of new venues, or their food and transport needs at Games time. A well organised Games will be remembered as a great Games if there are lots of records and world class performances from the athletes.
Since I started I’ve been recruiting the main team of people who need to do all the detailed planning for the Games, along with our Games partners – the Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council and Commonwealth Games Scotland. There are now ten of us in the OC and during this year we have to put in place detailed plans and agreements for all of the venues (including the ones not owned by the Council eg. Hampden Park, Celtic Park, Ibrox), develop the detailed plans for the Games’ Village – which will house the athletes during the Games and be converted into a mixture of private and social housing after the Games – and develop our environmental policies and standards, among a whole host of other activities.
I am very excited and honoured to have the job of organising the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. I want us to reach out to everyone across Scotland to pass on our enthusiasm. The Commonwealth Games are often called the ‘friendly’ games. We have some sports that may have athletes as young as 13 or 14 (swimming, gymnastics) and others where competitors are likely to be much older (lawn bowls). We want these Games to touch people of all ages and backgrounds.
We will keep in touch with you about how the Games plans are progressing through this blog. We will encourage people right across the Games teams in the OC and our Partners to tell their stories so you can hear first hand what’s going on.