Birmingham bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games

The Birmingham bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games was a bid by Birmingham, England and Commonwealth Games England to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games.[1] On 21 December 2017 it was announced that the bid has been successful.[2]

Birmingham bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games
Logo of Birmingham's 2022 Commonwealth Games bid
Host city Birmingham, England
MottoHeart of the UK, Soul of the Commonwealth
Main venueAlexander Stadium
Websitehttp://www.birmingham2022.com/

Background

Birmingham was actually planning to bid for the 2026 Commonwealth Games. On 13 March 2017, Commonwealth Games Federation stripped Durban, South Africa of their rights to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games and reopened the bid process for the 2022 games.[3] On 19 June 2017 Birmingham announced its bid to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games along with unveiling of its bid logo.

The bid had the full support of: Birmingham City Council;[4] three regional local enterprise partnerships (Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership; Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership; Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership); the West Midlands Combined Authority, the West Midlands Growth Company and the newly elected Mayor of West Midlands, Andy Street.[5] Four-time Olympic gold medallist and multiple world champion Sir Mo Farah and CEO of Aston Villa F.C. Keith Wyness also supported the bid.[6][7]

Birmingham has also bid to host the 1992 Summer Olympics, but Barcelona was selected.

Previous events hosted

Birmingham has a track record of delivering large international sporting and cultural events, such as:[1]

Venues
Arena Birmingham

Birmingham has a wealth of existing sports venues, arenas and conference halls that were ideal for hosting sport during the Games. 95% of the competition venues were already in place for the 2022 games.[1] Alexander Stadium which will host the ceremonies and athletics will be renovated and the capacity will be increased from 12,000 to 50,000 seats. A 400-metre warm up track will also be developed. This would leave the stadium well placed to become the home of UK Athletics, hosting all the major national and international competitions after the Games.[8]

Genting Arena
Symphony Hall
Villa Park Stadium

Venues in Birmingham
Venue Sport Capacity Status
Alexander Stadium Ceremonies

Athletics

 50,000 Upgrade
National Exhibition Centre Boxing

Judo

Table Tennis

Freestyle Wrestling

 5,000 Existing
Genting Arena Badminton 15,000 Existing
Arena Birmingham Artistic and Rhythmic Gymnastics 15,000 Existing
Symphony Hall Weightlifting

Para Powerlifting

 2,200 Existing
University of Birmingham Squash

Hockey

 5,000 Existing
Sandwell Aquatics Centre Swimming

Para Swimming

Diving

 5,000 New
Villa Park Stadium Rugby 7s 42,000 Existing
Victoria Square[9] Basketball 3,000 Existing

Venues outside Birmingham
Venue Sport Capacity Status
Ericsson Indoor Arena Netball 7,000 Existing
Victoria Park, Leamington[10] Bowls 2,000 Existing

See also

References
  1. "Birmingham 2022 Heart of the UK, Soul of the Commonwealth". www.birmingham2022.com. Retrieved 2017-08-14.
  2. "Commonwealth Games: Birmingham announced as host of 2022 event". BBC Sport. 2017-12-21. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  3. "Durban stripped of 2022 Commonwealth Games". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2017-03-14. Retrieved 2017-08-14.
  4. Hopkins, Sue. "Commonwealth Games Bid 2022". www.birmingham.gov.uk. Retrieved 2017-08-15.
  5. Supporters. "Birmingham 2022 Heart of the UK, Soul of the Commonwealth". www.birmingham2022.com. Retrieved 2017-08-14.
  6. "Sir Mo Farah backs Birmingham's 2022 Commonwealth Games bid". 19 Aug 2017. Retrieved 2017-08-19.
  7. "Aston Villa chief executive gives backing to Birmingham 2022 bid". 8 Aug 2017. Retrieved 2017-08-19.
  8. Elkes, Neil (2017-06-30). "See how Alexander Stadium could be transformed for Commonwealth Games". birminghammail. Retrieved 2017-08-14.
  9. Cosgrove, David. "How Birmingham's Victoria Square would look hosting basketball in 2022 Commonwealth Games". www.expressandstar.com. Retrieved 2017-08-14.
  10. Elkes, Neil (2017-08-17). "Lawn bowls venue unveiled for city's 2022 Commonwealth Games bid". birminghammail. Retrieved 2017-08-17.
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