Australian diver Sam Fricker has described the news that his sport is a casualty of the cut-back Commonwealth Games as “devastating” as the Scottish city of Glasgow prepares to host the event in 2026.
Diving has been held at every Commonwealth Games since 1930 — it was known as the British Empire Games at the time — but will not feature on a 10-sport program in Glasgow, organisers confirmed this week.
The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) confirmed the 10 sports set to feature in Glasgow are: athletics/para-athletics, swimming/para-swimming, artistic gymnastics, track-cycling/para-track cycling, netball, weightlifting/para-powerlifting, boxing, judo, bowls/para-bowls and 3×3 basketball/3×3 wheelchair basketball.
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The sports that have been axed are diving, field hockey, cricket, rugby sevens, badminton, beach volleyball, road cycling, mountainbiking, rhythmic gymnastics, squash, table tennis/para-table tennis, triathlon/para-triathlon and wrestling.
Glasgow hosted the Commonwealth Games as recently as 2014, but has stepped up to save the 2026 event after Daniel Andrews dumped the Games in July last year during his time as Victoria’s premier.
Fricker won bronze at the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham.
“The Commonwealth Games is one of the two major events for diving,” Fricker said on Nine’s Today.
“These athletes train to go and compete at those events, and to have it cut from the Games completely is devastating. Those are what you look up on TV and you aspire to go to, so you take something away [and] it’s tough for the athletes who want to go and compete, but also for the next generation, it gives them less to aspire to.”
More than 2700 athletes from 74 countries and territories will compete at the pared-back Games, which will be held across four venues from July 23 to August 2 in 2026.
Field hockey has been held at every edition of the Commonwealth Games since Kuala Lumpur hosted in 1998.
The Australian men’s team, the Kookaburras, has won all seven gold medals on offer, while Australia’s women’s team, the Hockeyroos, has won four of the seven gold medals.
Hockey Australia chief executive David Pryles said the announcement was “disappointing” not just for hockey but all sports squeezed out.
“There was always a lot of pressure on the Commonwealth Games Federation with less than two years to go until the Games in Glasgow and I know I join all our Commonwealth compatriots in saying we hope this is a temporary adjustment to the Games schedule,” Pryles said.
“We have a strong relationship with Commonwealth Games Australia, and we look forward to working with them and know they will do a fantastic job in advocating for a full-strength Games in future, which includes hockey.”
Squash Australia chief executive Robert Donaghue said the news was “heartbreaking to players” who had the 2026 Commonwealth Games in their sights.
“Today’s announcement is a blow to the players who have had their dream of competing in the Commonwealth Games taken away from them,” Donaghue said.
“With such a short preparation time before Glasgow and with costs needing to be kept tight to stage the event at all, we fully understand the reason for having such a drastically reduced sports program in 2026. However, with a 2014 legacy venue capable of hosting the competition once again, the squash community remained hopeful of being a part of the Games until today’s news arrived.”
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Petria Thomas, the Australian swimming great and Australia’s Commonwealth Games chef de mission, welcomed the finalisation of the sports program.
“We knew the Games were headed to Glasgow, and we now know when they’ll be and the sports that will take part — it’s an exciting milestone in our preparations,” Thomas said.
“We are committed to delivering an experience for Australia’s team that exceeds Birmingham [the 2022 Commonwealth Games], with no stone to be left unturned as we target both performance excellence and memories that last a lifetime.”
A total of $2.6 billion was originally budgeted for Victoria to host the Games, but the Andrews government called it quits after estimating that costs had blown out to almost $7 billion — a decision that triggered widespread backlash.
Commonwealth Games Australia chief executive Craig Phillips branded the Victorian government’s estimated costs a “gross exaggeration” and said the cancellation was “beyond disappointing”.
Australia will reportedly pay $200 million to help Glasgow host the 2026 edition.