As Glasgow basks in the afterglow of hosting a popular 20th edition of the Commonwealth Games, Scotland’s largest city can reflect on a job well done, even if the sporting action underwhelmed on a global scale.
Hailed as the best-ever edition of the tournament by Commonwealth Commonwealth Federation president Prince Tunku Imran, Glasgow charmed the 71 participating nations and territories that competed over the course of 11 days.
With approximately 1.2 million tickets sold, Glasgow ensured that athletes from all over the Commonwealth received full and noisy support wherever they competed, even if there were few show-stopping moments.
Photo: Reuters
After several high-profile withdrawals, notably England’s double Olympic champion Mo Farah and Jamaican sprinter Yohan Blake, the hopes of the Games rested on the world’s fastest man: Usain Bolt.
The towering Jamaican did not disappoint after claiming gold in the men’s 4x100m relay, but the fanfare he created also highlighted the dearth of world-class talent in Glasgow.
With traditionally powerful sporting nations like the US, China and Russia not eligible to compete, the Games will always lack true world-class status.
Yet part of the tournament’s charm is the fabled stories the diverse range of athletes have, be it Kiribati’s first female boxer, Taoriba Biniati; Brunei’s only athlete in Glasgow: cyclist Muhammad I’maadi Abd Aziz; or Norfolk Island badminton player Richard Cribb, who practices on a converted dance floor.
Teenage gymnast Claudia Fragapane will have good reason to always remember these Games, after the tiny 16-year-old, who stands just 1.37m tall, became the first Englishwoman in 84 years to win four Commonwealth golds in one tournament.
It is these stories that give the event its own unique identity, drawing it out of the shadow of the Olympics.
The blanket television and radio coverage the Games received across Britain reflected the popularity it has among the Home Nations, while in cricket-mad India, with the team currently touring England, all of the leading newspapers sent correspondents to Glasgow.
India finished second in the medals tally when they hosted the Games four years back and although expectations were lower than 2010, the event was closely followed, with high TV ratings.
Indian Minister of Sports Sarbananda Sonowal has also regularly made press statements lauding the medal winners, while the federations have announced cash prizes for the athletes.
Jamaican press were out in force too, ensuring extensive coverage of big-name track star Bolt, while the rest of the team did not disappoint with regular appearances on the podium in the sprint races.
Despite breaking the only world record of the Games in the women’s 4x100m freestyle, Australia fans left Glasgow a little disappointed after finishing second in the medals table behind archrivals England.
They will look to put that right when the Gold Coast stages the next games in 2018.
Casting a shadow over the success of the Games were several cases of alleged criminal activity on behalf of an athlete and two officials.
Toua Udia, 22, a weightlifter from Papua New Guinea, went on trial in Glasgow on Monday accused of sexually assaulting another man in a supermarket bathroom.
Udia denies intentionally or recklessly touching the man’s testicles on July 21 in a Tesco coffee shop lavatory near the Athletes’ Village in Glasgow.
Udia’s accuser, who cannot be identified, told a court that the weightlifter touched his testicles while he was helping the athlete strap an ice pack to his leg.
“I came out of the cubicle and saw him strapping a bandage to his left calf,” he told the court.
“I asked him: ‘Are you okay?’ and he asked me if I could help him tie the bandage. I took both ends of the bandage and he said: ‘Pull it tight,’” the accuser added.
“I held it as tight as I could and he put his left hand between my legs and touched my testicles with two fingers. There was a bit of pressure. It wasn’t a scuff and it wasn’t a total grab, but it was definitely as if someone was poking [me],” the accuser said. “I said: ‘Hey!’ to tell him to back off. He looked at me and just smiled as though it was normal, with a wee smirk, as if everything was fine.”
The man said he neither consented to the contact nor wished it to happen and that he left the bathroom and alerted staff and the police.
Police officer Jamie Carr told the court that Udia spoke to him after the alleged incident.
“He [Udia] said that a male came out of the cubicle and that he had asked this male for assistance to help him strap the ice pack to his leg with a shirt,” Carr said.
“He then said that both him and the other male were tying the shirt and at this point the accused said his hand slipped and accidentally hit the other male. He [Udia] then pointed to his groin area to suggest that is where he hit him,” Carr added.
The court heard from a Tesco shop assistant and a security guard, who both said they were skeptical about the alleged victim’s accusations when he initially approached them.
The case continued yesterday.
Also on Monday, it was reported that two Indian Commonwealth Games officials arrested in Glasgow have been released and are free to go after their cases concluded, reports said on Monday.
Indian Olympic Association secretary-general Rajeev Mehta, 49, was arrested following an incident in the city center, but prosecutors have decided not to proceed with the case against him, the BBC and Scotland’s STV television reported.
Meanwhile, wrestling referee Virender Malik, 45, was given either a fine or a warning after being detained following an unrelated alleged assault in the city, the broadcasters said.
Neither the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service nor Police Scotland would comment on the cases involving the officials.
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