Glasgow ready to welcome Commonwealth Games

Scottish city’s council leader invites athletes to ‘friendly’ locality.

GLASGOW: “You bet we’re ready,” declared Glasgow’s council leader as the Scottish city once again welcomed the world to the banks of the River Clyde for the 20th Commonwealth Games.

Known as an ‘emporium of the world’ during its heyday as a trading port, the city is now braced for the arrival of 100,000 overseas sports fans and over 4,000 athletes from the 71 competing nations.

Council leader Gordon Matheson promised a warm welcome for guests.

“The Friendly Games have come to the friendly city,” he said. “Glasgow’s always ready to welcome the world.”

When asked if the city was well-prepared, Matheson replied, “You bet we’re ready! We could have done this a year ago.

“It’s an enormous honour for me to be leader of the city at this time,” he added.

Host city prepares for showdown

In the city’s George Square, overlooked by the chambers, the sense of anticipation was growing ahead of Wednesday’s opening ceremony.

A long queue snaked in front of a makeshift ticket office, while tourists posed for pictures in front of the square’s new focal point, a sculpture of the official Games logo.

Nearby Buchanan Street was festooned with bunting and banners carrying the words ‘bring it on’ in a font inspired by legendary designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh, one of the city’s most famous sons.

Children played on the statues of Clyde – the part-human, part-thistle mascot – dotted around the city, while train commuters arriving at Central Station were greeted with a giant countdown clock.

Early risers were treated to the Queen’s Baton – the Games’ equivalent of the Olympic Torch – being zip-lined across the Clyde from the top of the Finnieston Crane, a reminder of a time when the city produced one fifth of the world’s ships and a quarter of its locomotives.

The east end hosts Celtic Park, where the opening ceremony will take place, the new Emirates Arena and the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.

Thinking long-term

The area’s massive regeneration project also includes the Athletes’ Village, which will be turned into 700 mixed tenancy homes after the Games.

Council leader Matheson points to the 5,000 jobs and apprenticeships created as a result of the Games and new infrastructure projects that he claims helped insulate Glasgow from the recent economic crisis.

“Having the Games forced us to do the right thing as a city; investing in the long-term,” he explained.

Gareth Williams, head of policy for business lobby group the Scottish Council for Development and Industry, said that he also expected long-term benefits.

However, with the opening ceremony within touching distance, the focus was now on fun.

“It’s going to be watched by more than a billion people and it’s going to be magnificent,” claimed Matheson. “It’s an unprecedented opportunity.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 23^rd,  2014.

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