Birmingham 2022: Heart of the UK, soul of the Commonwealth Games | SWIM

Swim.by, SWIM Channel, Andrzej Waszkewicz

Birmingham 2022: Heart of the UK, soul of the Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games Federation have officially announced that the 2022 Commonwealth Games will be held in Birmingham. At the Arena Academy in Birmingham, Louise Martin CBE and president of the CGF revealed that the £750mln sporting spectacle will return to the UK in 2022.

2022 will be the 22nd edition of the Commonwealth Games and Birmingham is the third city in the UK to host the Commonwealths since 2000, when the city of Manchester delivered the Games in 2002 and most recently Glasgow in 2014.

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Photo: © Birmingham 2022

Following the deselection of the South African city of Durban in March 2017 the midlands city threw its in to the hat as a potential host and over time was the only city to submit an official bid to the CGF.

The awarding of the Games to Birmingham now means that a new 50m Aquatics Centre and diving facility will built; the only new venue to be constructed as part of the cities bid.

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Photo: © Birmingham 2022

Birmingham 2022, which is expected to take place from 27 July – 7 August 2022, marks 20 years since Manchester 2002, the last time the Games were held in England.

The CGF President also thanked Canada, Malaysia and Australia for the continued interest expressed in hosting a future Commonwealth Games, and confirmed that the Commonwealth Games Associations (CGAs) in these countries have signalled their potential hosting interest in either 2026 or 2030.

The final, complete Birmingham 2022 bid documentation was submitted by Commonwealth Games England (CGE), the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on behalf of the UK Government, and Birmingham City Council, supported by the West Midlands Combined Authority. The foundations for the Games have now been laid, with the official handover to Birmingham set to take place at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony on April 15 next year.

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Photo: © Birmingham 2022

Sports Minister Tracey Crouch said: “The UK has a brilliant track record for putting on the biggest sport events in the world and it is a great news that Birmingham has been selected to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games. I am sure that we will put on an event that will make the country proud, leave a strong sporting legacy and strengthen relationships with our friends across the Commonwealth.”

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