Commonwealth legacy ‘front and centre’ of Birmingham Games, insists minister

Legacy remains “front and centre” for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, according to Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston.

There are 100 days to go until the 2022 Games open in the city and other West Midlands venues on July 28, running until August 8.

After the decision to strip Durban as host city, Birmingham had only a four-and-a-half-year cycle to prepare for the multi-sport showpiece event rather than the usual seven.

A public investment of £778 million is going into staging the Games, which were last held in the United Kingdom in Glasgow during 2014 while Manchester hosted in 2002.

As well as the renovated Alexander Stadium, now with an increased capacity of 17,500, the Sandwell Aquatics Centre will provide a leisure centre to serve the Smethwick community.

Switching the athletes village to existing university accommodation has allowed the regeneration of Perry Barr to focus on much-needed legacy housing which will be completed in 2022 and open to the public next year.

Also as part of the Birmingham 2022 projects, there are a number of other upgrades – including Wyndley Leisure Centre as an official training venue for hockey, triathlon, and Para-triathlon as well as at Birches Valley in Cannock Chase Forest for mountain biking.

A global television audience of up to 1.5 billion is expected across the 19 sports, with the Games set to offer the biggest ever para-sport programme and more women’s medals than men’s for the first time.

With the eyes across the world set to be focused on the region over 11 days this summer, Huddleston is confident lasting benefits will be delivered for years to come.

“When I got appointed Sports Minister and Commonwealth Games Minister, the legacy elements of the Games was one of the first