Commonwealth Games heading back to Australia for the sixth time and on third occasion this century

The Australian state of Victoria has been selected to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

It will be the second time that the state has held the Games after Melbourne in 2006. However, the events in four years time will be spread across the entire Victoria region and not just in one city.

The fact that no other countries apart from Australia bid for the 2026 Games meant that Victoria was granted an exclusive negotiating period to secure its bid to host the events back in February.

Melbourne will host the opening ceremony at the 100,000 capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground but there will be four regional capitals: Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong and Gippsland.

Each will have their own athletes village and the athletics will take place at Ballarat.

It’s unknown what stadium will host the athletics but the largest venue in Ballarat is the 11,000 capacity Mars Stadium. The likelihood is that it will be renovated in a similar fashion to Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium or a new stadium will be built in Victoria’s third largest city.

Victoria 2026 set to be a Games-Changer – and accelerates a Green and Gold runway for the decade! ???? Read more: https://t.co/YZYhADSCOs #Vic2026CG #Vic2026CommGames

— Commonwealth Games Australia (@CommGamesAUS) April 12, 2022

CGF President Dame Louise Martin said: “The Commonwealth Games Federation is absolutely delighted to award the 2026 Commonwealth Games to Victoria.

“Commonwealth Games Australia and the Victorian Government have set out a bold and innovative vision for hosting our major multi-sport event.

“In Victoria, we believe we have found the perfect partner for the next stage of our journey.

“This a very special moment for the Commonwealth Sport Family and on behalf of the entire Movement, I would like to congratulate Commonwealth Games Australia and Victoria on their successful Games submission. We now look forward to a bright future as we work together to stage a Commonwealth Games like no other.”

Australia has already hosted the Commonwealth Games five times, the first being in Sydney in 1938 and the last one just four years ago at Gold Coast.

It also hosted the Olympics in 1956 and 2000 and just a couple of months ago Brisbane won the 2032 bid uncontested.