Glasgow’s ambition to host the greatest Commonwealth Games of all time passed its first big test last night with the opening ceremony in Glasgow.
Organisers lived up to their promise as the ceremony delivered a message to the rest of the Commonwealth nations about shared values with a distinctly Glaswegian accent.
Singers Rod Stewart, Susan Boyle and Amy MacDonald were among those performing, but the ones masterminding the Celtic Park launch made sure that ordinary Glaswegians were heavily involved.
And a UNICEF appeal also turned the event into a fund-raiser for vulnerable children to add some real substance to the style and spectacle normally associated with opening ceremonies.
It was Manchester 2002 when the people who ran Scotland’s biggest city and Commonwealth Games council started believing they could put on their own show.
Since then the London Olympics have given Glasgow further inspiration – but even more to live up to.
There has been the predictable overspend. The Games are now set to cost £563 million – about £200 million more than initially estimated in the bid.
But Glaswegians and Scots in general look set to embrace the prospect of the first Commonwealth Games in their country for 28 years, with more than 1.1 million tickets sold.
Commonwealth Games Scotland chairman Michael Cavanagh said: “I suppose the bar is raised for every Games, but we first thought about having the Games in Scotland after we saw what Manchester did, and our aspirations were to do it better than that.
“The next Games was Melbourne, which was absolutely fantastic. And I must admit there were times I thought ‘I wonder if we will ever match that’. But what we are about to deliver in Glasgow, I think, will be the best ever Commonwealth Games for sure.”
There weren’t too many explosions yesterday, but organisers are hoping the Celtic Park opening ceremony fires the enthusiasm of the host city.
Athletes’ parade
Track sprinter Kevin Moore carried Malta’s flag during the athletes’ parade at Celtic Park, last night.
This is the first time that Moore is representing the country at the Commonwealth Games but the Australia-based speedster has already won gold for Malta at the GSSE.
He also possesses the national records for the 100m, 200m and 400m races.
Among the first Maltese athletes to enter the competitive scene in today’s Day One of competitions will be triathlon pair Keith Galea and Danica Bonello Spiteri.
The entry field in both races includes some of the top triathletes in the world but both Galea and Bonello Spiteri will be looking to improve their times on the Olympic distance race – 1.5km swim, 40km cycle and 10km run.
Brothers Jonny and Alistair Brownlee, of Great Britain, start favourites in the men’s triathlon this afternoon.
They will represent England for the first time in triathlon after the sport was brought back into the programme following its omission in 2010.
There will be other medals assigned today besides those in triathlon as finals will also be held in rhythmic gymnastics, judo, cycling (track), swimming and weightlifting.