Australian Swimming Golden Girl Petria Thomas Won’t Give Up On Her Fight For The Future Of The Commonwealth Games
Knowing Australian swimming great Petria Thomas, she would have shed a tear or two when awoken by the news today that has rocked Australian sport – that the State of Victoria had withdrawn as host of the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
As Australian television went live with the biggest breaking sports story of the year, news and social sites have gone into meltdown with sports bosses, athletes and commentators sending the story viral.
The triple Olympic gold medallist and nine-time Commonwealth Games golden girl had led the “Bold In Gold” Aussies to a record-breaking 1000th Games gold medal in Birmingham last year.
BOLD IN GREEN AND GOLD: Proud Games leaders Steve Moneghetti and Petria Thomas. Photo Courtesy: Commonwealth Games Australia.
And she won’t give up on believing that it is not the death knell of the Games she believes are the lifeblood of Australian sport.
A Games that current superstar Ariarne Titmus told Channel 9 on the eve of the pool events at this week’s World Championships, which start Sunday in Fukuoka, are in some ways bigger than the Olympics.
Thomas in her role as the team’s Chef de Mission, who was again preparing to showcase Australia’s athletes to the globe with a regional Games model in in two-and-half-years time won’t give up on her Games.
“The news that Victoria will no longer be hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games is extremely disappointing, but my team and I are totally committed to delivering for Australia’s athletes and our team when a new host is found,” said Thomas, acknowledging it is a significant blow to the hundreds of athletes and their support teams working toward qualification for a home Games.
“I am thinking of them today and we understand the disappointment and the impact this decision will have on their ability to plan and prepare for the Games in 2026, and we are committed to finding a resolution alongside the Commonwealth Games Federation.
“The Commonwealth Games is a pillar on the Australian sporting calendar, and I remain wholeheartedly committed to providing athletes with every opportunity to represent their country again at a Commonwealth Games.
“They remain the only integrated multi-sport event that brings together able-bodied and para-athletes, raising awareness and support for inclusion on the global stage.”
These Games would mean even more to her than anyone – as a teenager she rose from the streets of the small NSW regional country town of Mullumbimby with a population of around 4000 people to become one of Australia’s greatest sporting achievers,.
A country kid who went on to conquer the world – never forgetting where she came from – knowing full well “they breed ‘em tough” in the bush.
YES: Petria Thomas wins Olympic gold in Athens in 2004. Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr/Swimming Australia.
Nine gold medals from three Commonwealth Games with a debut in Victoria, Canada in 1994, onto Kuala Lumpur in 1998 before Manchester in 2002 – becoming a triple Olympic gold medallist in Athens in 2004.
All the while remembering the opportunities afforded her by her parents and her coaches like Stan Tilley, Jim Fowlie and Glenn Beringen.
Deep down determined to play a role herself in encouraging and helping the next generation live out their dreams, first at the Commonwealth Youth Games, before succeeding legendary Australian marathon runner Steve Moneghetti as the team leader in 2022 and again at a cherished home Games in 2026.
Those dreams seemingly dashed today when Victorian Premier Dan Andrews dropped an early morning bombshell, revealing the Games budget had blown out from $2.5 billion to $6 or even $7 billion.
Australia’s Commonwealth Games boss Craig Phillips sceptical that the 2026 Games would have cost that much, figures he described as a “gross exaggeration” that was more than 50 per cent higher than estimates provided to the organising committee just one month ago.
Australian Paralympic swimming star, Rowan Crothers, in camp in France with the Australian team preparing for the Para World’s in Manchester said the abrupt cancellation of the 2026 event in regional Victoria could have a devastating impact on inclusion in sport.
The two-time Paralympic gold medallist and 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist believes that if the competition does not survive it will hurt athletes with disabilities, who will have fewer chances to compete on an equal billing with able-bodied athletes.
Crothers said a full cancellation of the Games would “suck for the state of inclusion” in sport.
HOME GAMES GOLD: Australia’s 4x100m freestyle relay team from 2018 on the Gold Coast (L-R) Jack Cartwright, James Magnussen, Kyle Chalmers and Cam McEvoy.Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr/Swimming Australia Ltd.
“The Commonwealth Games is the biggest major international competition that features athletes with a disability alongside able-bodied athletes,” he wrote on Twitter.
“A great opportunity to raise awareness for disabled sport … seeing the Games cancelled will suck for the state of inclusion.”
Crothers, who has cerebral palsy, burst onto the scene as a 16-year-old when he won the 100m freestyle S9 gold medal at the 2014 Glasgow Games.
He said the competition carried more significance than the Paralympics for many athletes with disabilities due to the more equal recognition.
Four-time Commonwealth Games swimming gold medallist James Magnussen said a number of Aussie athletes were left fuming.
“It’s really disappointing,” Magnussen told SEN radio.
“The Commonwealth Games holds a special place in Australian athletes’ hearts. We don’t get a grand final every year like the football codes. We train year-round to perform often once per year.
“You’ve got a World Champs year, you’ve got a Comm Games year, and you’ve got an Olympics year. Take that out of the cycle and we’re racing once every two years.
“As an athlete who competed at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, and for all those fans who went along… that was a massive event and was very well received. It still holds a lot of importance in the sporting landscape here in Australia. That’s essentially the biggest recruitment tool for a sport like swimming. People are watching NRL and AFL (football) every weekend.
“Something like the Commonwealth Games on home soil just ignites that dream for a young athlete. It has a huge impact on those sports. “
Legendary Australian broadcaster Bruce McAvaney says Victoria’s decision to pull out of hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2026 is an embarrassment.
McAvaney, a long-time Olympic and Commonwealth Games commentator told radio 3AW Melbourne’s Neil Mitchell earlier today that the announcement had shocked him.
BIG CALL: Australia’s Voice Of The Games Bruce McAvaney. Photo Courtesy: Channel 7.
“It’s a big shock…I didn’t see it coming. I mean, I don’t live in Melbourne … so it’s sort of out of my focus. But I was just looking forward to it, I guess, like any sports fan and hoping maybe that I get a chance to work on it,” said McAvaney, admitting it would be embarrassing internationally.
“Because it’s so close. I mean, this is not the first time [for] the Commonwealth Games because the last Commonwealth Games was supposed to be in South Africa in Durban.
“And about two or three years out, they also pulled the plug and Birmingham came to the party and saved the Games.
“And it was a very successful one, I would say. It was lucky. It was fantastic.
“But, this is two in a row, so to speak. It’s almost the centenary of the Commonwealth Games. 2030 will be the centenary. This is a huge challenge now for its future.
“And from Australia’s point of view, and from Victoria’s point of view, yeah, for it to be so late – I mean, it’s only 2023, but we’ve known about it for a fair while – it is an embarrassment.”
The Commonwealth Games will go on. 52 other Countries still support it and more Countries are trying to join. With Australia out of it at least it could return to being ” The friendly games “.