Australia's Victoria to host 2026 Commonwealth Games
The state of Victoria has been confirmed to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games in four regional hubs
The Australian state of Victoria has been officially announced as host of the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Australia has staged the multi-sport event six times previously, but 2026 will mark the first time a several cities have been awarded the Games.
The Opening Ceremony will take place at the 100,000-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
The initial programme includes sixteen sports, with the possibility of seven more to be added.
Events will be spread out across four regions:
- Geelong — aquatics, beach volleyball, gymnastics, hockey, table tennis, triathlon
- Ballarat — athletics, boxing
- Bendigo — lawn bowls, netball, squash, weightlifting
- Gippsland — badminton, rugby sevens
T20 cricket will be competed across all four regions, while Gippsland and Bendigo will both host road cycling.
A nod to the future: Brisbane 2032 Olympics
Australian Olympic Committee Chief Executive Officer Matt Carroll welcomed the decision, ahead of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games.
“With Brisbane hosting the 2032 Olympic Games, we now have a second major home Games in prospect. The Olympic and Commonwealth Games share so many member sports," Carroll said.
“This is an exciting time for those sports - with 12 of the 16 sports on the sports programme announced to date are also established Olympic sports.
“We have spoken about the green and gold runway leading into Brisbane 2032. Now to host a Commonwealth Games in 2026 is a major marker on that runway."
Carroll also highlighted that Australia is set to host several other major sporting events in the near future too:
“This year we have the FIBA Women’s World Cup (basketball) and the UCI World Road Championships (cycling). In 2023 the FIFA World Cup for women (football) and potentially Rugby World Cups (men) in 2027 and 2029 (women) – more than 30 major global sporting events are coming to Australia across the next ten years."