{"id":1125139,"date":"2026-08-02T02:01:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T02:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1125139\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T02:01:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T02:01:18","slug":"games-has-shown-scotland-at-its-best-says-swinney-ahead-of-closing-ceremony-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1125139\/","title":{"rendered":"Games has shown Scotland at its best, says Swinney ahead of closing ceremony \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Commonwealth Games has \u201cshown Scotland at its very best\u201d, First Minister John Swinney has said ahead of the event\u2019s closing ceremony.<\/p>\n

The 11-day sporting extravaganza will come to an end on Sunday evening, after more than 3,000 athletes flocked to Glasgow from 74 different nations and territories.<\/p>\n

The closing ceremony will celebrate the Indian city of Amdavad, which will host the 2030 Commonwealth Games.<\/p>\n

The handover segment will involve some of India\u2019s biggest musical and dancing talent.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/a>\"William<\/a>\"FirstFirst Minister of Scotland John Swinney watches the swimming (Owen Humphreys\/PA) <\/p>\n

Glasgow stepped in to host the current Games after the Australian state of Victoria pulled out, citing spiralling costs.<\/p>\n

The First Minister said: \u201cThe success of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games has shown Scotland at its very best.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have welcomed athletes and supporters from the 74 nations and come together in an outstanding celebration of sport and diversity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have enjoyed watching athletes competing at the highest level, breaking records and inspiring many of us to take part in sporting activities ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Swinney said the Games would leave a legacy of improved sporting facilities, including at the grassroots level.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cPeople who have travelled to Scotland for the Games have experienced our world-class hospitality, which has been an excellent boost for our tourism sector and wider economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was only possible with Glasgow stepping in at short notice that we\u2019ve been able to protect this special event.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reimagined model of these Games will help them continue into the future, creating hosting opportunities for other Commonwealth countries \u2013 with a focus on inclusivity and innovative approaches to reduce the environmental impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

UK Government Minister for Scotland Melanie Ward praised the volunteers \u2013 known as the Glasgow 2026 Legends \u2013 who had made the Games possible.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cAs the Commonwealth Games draw to a close, I\u2019d like to say a huge congratulations to all the competitors and medallists who have made it an unforgettable showcase of world-class sporting talent.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce again, Glasgow has shone under the spotlight and demonstrated it is among the top places to host world sporting events.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing the city spring into action to save the 2026 Games less than two years ago, and then deliver a 11-day spectacle building on the legacy of the celebrated 2014 games, has made me incredibly proud.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Commonwealth Games has \u201cshown Scotland at its very best\u201d, First Minister John Swinney has said ahead of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1125140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5009],"tags":[748,18527,918,77258,304117,4884,7852,306136,712,93,152079,16,15],"class_list":["post-1125139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scotland","tag-britain","tag-commonwealth-games","tag-glasgow","tag-glasgow-2026","tag-glasgow-2026-commonwealth-games","tag-great-britain","tag-john-swinney","tag-melanie-ward","tag-scotland","tag-sport","tag-sporting-events","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117023454661683658","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1125139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1125139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1125139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1125140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1125139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1125139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1125139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}