They are now on the TV, but could these former athletes win today?

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This year’s Commonwealth Games will look a little different. After Victoria withdrew from hosting duties for the event in 2023, Glasgow stepped in as host for what will now be a streamlined version of the Games with 10 sports scheduled, instead of the 19 sports at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022.

Former competitive swimmer Johanna Griggs, part of the hosting team covering the event for Seven, feels that despite the changes, the sporting community was mainly relieved the Games would go ahead, even in a scaled-back version.

Johanna Griggs and Matt Shirvington are part of the team covering the Glasgow Commonwealth Games for Seven.Monique Westermann

“To be perfectly honest, I think they’re over the moon that it got picked up,” says Griggs. “Everyone was a bit shocked when Melbourne made the announcement that they were going. I think there are a lot of people that wondered whether or not that would be the death knell for the Commonwealth Games, and there was a huge amount of relief – obviously the sports that miss out would be completely and utterly devastated – but I think we’ve just looked at it as, ‘Hey, the Games are on’.”

The Glasgow Games are set to kick off on July 24 at 4.45am with the opening ceremony, with more than 3000 athletes from 74 nations and territories competing. Griggs, who won a bronze medal in the 100-metre backstroke at the 1990 event in Auckland, has a lot of fondness for the Games.

“They have a really important place in sport,” says Griggs. “That started my swimming career. I’d just turned 16 when I went to the Comm Games and medalled there and then medalled at the world championships the following year and never got to an Olympics. So, of course, it holds a special place in my heart because it was some of the most extraordinary memories.”

For fellow Glasgow Games host and former sprinter Matt Shirvington, the competition performs a crucial role particularly for up-and-coming sportspeople.

“I love the Commonwealth Games,” says Shirvington, who competed in the 1998 and 2006 Games. “It is the ultimate stepping stone for any young athlete coming through. It’s almost like going to university for elite sports, it really teaches you so much. Any time wearing the green and gold is a proud moment, and particularly Commonwealth Games, when you think of the people that have gone before you. All the best Australian athletes – Ian Thorpe, Cathy Freeman – all of those iconic household names forged their path through the Commonwealth Games.”

A young Johanna Griggs (right) at the 6th FINA World Swimming Championships in 1991 with (from left) Julie McDonald, Susie O’Neill, Nicole Livingston and Duncan Armstrong. Australian Broadcasting Corporation TV Publicity

Shirvington, who now co-hosts Sunrise, is also very positive about Australia’s chances at the upcoming Games, following a win in 2022 with 180 medals, closely followed by England with 176.

“Yeah, we’ll top it again,” says Shirvington. “There’s 200 gold medals up for grabs at these Games and we will by far top the medal table. I think a lot of those medals will come both in track and field and in swimming. [But] it’s going to be a really competitive competition across the board.”

Matt Shirvington celebrates after winning bronze in the men’s 100m final at the Goodwill Games in Brisbane in 2001. Vince Caligiuri

When Griggs and Shirvington are asked about whether they would have been a match in their heyday for today’s athletes, they are candid.

“I don’t think so,” says Griggs, laughing. “Look at that Australian team now, how different physically they are. It’s just extraordinary to watch how clever the sports have got and how much smarter they’ve got with their training.”

Adds Shirvington: “No, they’re absolutely flying. This current crop of Australian sprinters is the best we have ever seen, hands down. Obviously, they haven’t broken Patrick Johnson’s national record yet, [but] I think that will go. We’ve just got great athletes, and they’re just pushing each other to go faster and faster.”

With swimming and track and field experiencing a golden era for Aussie athletes, Griggs and Shirvington are hoping viewers will tune in to cheer on competitors across all disciplines.

“Australian sport has never been in a better position,” says Shirvington. “Some of our youngest and brightest stars are coming through for the Commonwealth Games, let’s get behind them.”

The Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games will be broadcast from July 24 to August 3 on Seven and 7Plus.

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