Source: Radio New Zealand
XIV Commonwealth games opening ceremony, Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand, 24 January 1990. Photosport
Despite its dominance of last month’s Halberg Awards, athletics looms as a possible weak link in a bid to host the 2034 Commonwealth Games.
Track and field holds pride of place in past New Zealand success at the Games, producing 136 medals, including 37 gold – both more than any other sport – since they were first held at Hamilton, Ontario, in 1930.
High jumper Hamish Kerr has helped spark a resurgence in the sport over recent years, capturing Halberg Supreme honours for his 2025 world championship victory, which followed previous success at Commonwealth Games, world indoor championships and the Paris Olympics.
It currently boasts world class performers in a wide variety of events, but Athletics NZ chief executive Cam Mitchell fears the lack of a suitable venue makes his sport an “Achilles heel”, as New Zealand prepares its case to stage the Commonwealth Games in eight years.
“One of the big challenges we have is facilities,” Mitchell told RNZ. “None of our facilities are optimal.”
New Zealand has hosted the Games three times at Auckland 1950, Christchurch 1974 and Auckland 1990. None of the athletics venues at those events are still used for that purpose.
Eden Park has since become the nation’s premier rugby site, QE2 Stadium was destroyed by the 2011 earthquake, while Mt Smart Stadium has become home for NZ Warriors and Auckland FC, with athletics relegated to what was previously the warm-up track.
“That’s a challenge around facilities that we’re working with government on,” Mitchell said. “If New Zealand wants to host the Commonwealth Games and be serious about that bid, athletics is our Achilles heel, because there’s no facility.
“We need to build a national home for athletics.”
Over the weekend, the national championships were staged at Auckland’s Trusts Stadium, which also hosted games during the 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup.
It already has a giant grandstand down the homestraight, which was packed for Saturday’s ‘Track Stars’ showcase, but would need further work to meet Commonwealth Games spectator standards.
“It definitely resonates,” Kerr told RNZ last week. “If you look at the tracks around New Zealand, we’ve got some real world-class tracks – the surfaces, the way they’re designed and the way they’re built – but they haven’t been built with spectators in mind or high-level competitions.
“I think it will be interesting to see how Trusts Stadium works on the weekend for the nationals, because it has a good embankment and a decent-sized stand.
“As an athletics fan, the thing I’ve been a little bit disappointed with is, when there has been talk about new stadiums within the country, often they’re made to dimensions that wouldn’t accommodate a track.
“Christchurch’s new stadium is a perfect example of that.”
In recent years, the Commonwealth Games have barely survived the increased costs of staging them.
Trusts Stadium looms as a potential Commonwealth Games athletics venue. Shane Wenzlick/Photosport
Durban, South Africa, was originally awarded the 2022 Games, but struggled for finance and was eventually replaced by Birmingham, England, which moved its hosting agreement up four years to accommodate.
Bids from Kuala Lumpur, Cardiff, Calgary, Edmonton and Adelaide for 2026 were all withdrawn, also due to financial concerns.
In April 2022, the Australian state of Victoria agreed to host this year’s edition on a new regional model, with venues spread across its catchment at Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo, rather than centred on Melbourne.
Fifteen months later, the state government terminated its host agreement. Gold Coast, London, Malaysia, Singapore and the Ghanaian capital of Accra considered stepping in, but ultimately, all declined.
As a last resort, Glasgow agreed to a reduced programme using venues from the 2014 Games.
The 2030 Games have already been awarded to Ahmedabad, India, while New Zealand has indicated interest in 2034, probably adopting the regional model.
“Commonwealth Sport will put out their timelines, which we expect will be 2027, for feasibilities, presentations and proposals to go through to them,” NZ Olympic Committee chief executive Nicki Nicol told RNZ.
“We’ve done some pre-feasibilities. and will wait to do the next round of feasibility over the next 12 months or so. It’s a bit of awaiting game still, but we’re really conscious that athletics is caught in the programme.
“We do know that Sport NZ have an infrastructure review, so everyone’s aware that we want world-class facilities to keep producing amazing athletes.
“2034 is still a while away, but there are certainly options in New Zealand to retrofit existing facilities, so we can hold the Commonwealth Games and have athletics as part of that programme.”
Nicol agreed that Trusts Stadium was probably a frontrunner.
“I’m not a geo-tech engineer, but we do expect that would be a minimum standard that we could operate a Games at,” she said.
“We could use temporary seating, because at the end of the day, we have to make sure we’ve got surfaces and conditions for the athletes to perform at that elite level.
“We look forward to working with government over the coming months.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
