Queensland Athletes Provide Backing to Gold Coast Bid 2018

Queensland Athletes have given strong backing to the Gold Coast 2018 bid as delegates from the European and Canadian Commonwealth Games Association pay a three day visit.

Athletes showing there support were Chantelle Newbery, herbal Commonwealth and Olympic Games champion diver, Daph Pirie, former Australian Hockey Captain, Anne-Marie Forder, Commonwealth Games bronze medal shooter and Sara Carrigan, Olympic champion and Commonwealth Games medallist. They were joined by Scott de Jongh, Broadbeach lawn bowler, Sara Tait, junior wheelchair basketballer and athlete, Damon Kelly, Commonwealth Games medallist and weightlifter, and Andrew Baildon, Athlete Advisory Chair.

Cyclist Sara Carrigan said, “I am immensely proud of Gold Coast city and know from experience that it would be a brilliant location to host the Commonwealth Games.

“This region provided me with the perfect training ground to compete for many years at an elite level – it’s a combination of the weather, the training facilities and the lifestyle that make it so attractive to athletes from all over the world.

“The delegates were very interested in my experiences not only at Commonwealth and Olympic Games but my training and current cycling school on the Gold Coast.”

Carrigan is also serving on the Gold Coast 2018 Athlete Advisory Committee.

“The delegates were particularly interested in the development of a Gold Coast Games as a regional model and our identification of innovative solutions to potential infrastructure of selected venues,” said Mark Peters, Bid CEO.

“We were able to demonstrate how our model for the Games would work effectively and deliver sustainable benefits to this city and provide a blueprint for others into the future.

“Wherever we went across the weekend our guests were welcomed with warmth and enthusiasm and have left with a sense that our athletes and our community are very much ‘Behind the Bid’ and very keen to host a 2018 Commonwealth Games.”

The next delegation scheduled to visit the Gold Coast will be the Caribbean and American group who will be there from September 22-26.

The ultimate decision on who will host the 2018 Commonwealth Games will be decided on November 11 at the Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly in St Kitts and Nevis.