Katharine Merry assesses just how important and influential the Games are in the changing athletics landscape.

I never got to compete at the Commonwealth Games. I was selected for the 1990 edition in Auckland but I was 15 and my parents said no, because I was at school and I'd have plenty of opportunities to go to plenty more. But it never happened. I was either injured or sick for the subsequent ones before I retired. I had to withdraw so late in 1994 through injury that I had already picked up my kit but I never wore it. It was so massive and ill-fitting that my husband and my teenage son are able to use it for training!

It does feel a little bit like the one that got away. I would really like to have experienced competing in at least one Commonwealth Games, pulling on the England vest and sampling what it was like to compete as separate home nations. I wouldn’t say it feels too much like a massive hole in my CV, though. I’ll be honest, in my view the relevance of the Commonwealth Games has dropped considerably in recent years. 

I think their importance is now entirely personal to each athlete and can depend a great deal on the event in which they compete. Some of the disciplines we are about to see in Glasgow are going to be absolutely world class, while the standards of others won’t be quite so high. 

Putting it bluntly, I don’t think that athletics’ future would suddenly be cast into doubt if the Commonwealth Games were to end and it doesn’t come at the top of the priority list for many of the competitors. Remember, it’s not that long ago that we were expecting Birmingham to be the very last edition, and the international athletics calendar is now so crowded and busy that any gap would soon be filled. There are some sports, such as netball, that really need the Commonwealth Games and I’d argue that athletics isn’t one of them.

I am not dismissing the event’s importance and the impact it has the ability to make, though. 

I think the public perception of the Commonwealth Games is very different from those inside the sport. To the average person on the street there is still an interest in them, it’s something that they recognise, they understand and get on board with – just look at what happened in Birmingham in 2022 and what an exceptional showcase that proved to be. Glasgow 2014 was similar in scale and impact, too, and I’d be confident that more people are aware of them than the European Championships – even though that will be the higher quality event this summer. 

But the world has changed. This is going to be a stripped back version and has left the Games occupying a middle ground. The only frame of reference anyone has comes from previous editions which took place in large stadia and featured all the bells and whistles. You never know, the 2026 staging might provide the perfect template for future bidders to follow but, even with a 2030 host confirmed, the path ahead looks far from certain.   

I’ll be in Scotland working for TNT Sports and the fact that these Games are not going to be shown in any form on the BBC perhaps further underlines the shifting landscape. 

The thought of going back to Glasgow has also reminded me of the times when I competed at Scotstoun Stadium during my career, often at the old GB v USA internationals, but that also highlights how different things are these days. I loved that event – I had some really good wins, it was a great idea and the top names would fly in to compete – but you couldn't stage a meeting like that now, because there are too many competitions and too many athletes running in too many different places. It’s such a shame because it worked so well. 

I’m not one to dwell on the negative side of things, though, and I genuinely am looking forward to these Games. There are going to be some top names and I’m more than confident that the crowds will generate an excellent atmosphere. Scotstoun is a tight stadium and I’m intrigued to see how it’s going to look when the overhaul is finished. I think the athletes would be right to expect noise. 

I’m just sorry that Keely Hodgkinson won’t be among their number. She adds some stardust wherever she goes and, as you read this, she will be on the verge of her next 800m of the season at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene. 

I know she would have loved to have thrown herself into the 4x400m relay team but she has bigger targets this year and she was 100 per cent right to pull out of the women’s 400m final at the UK Championships. She felt something wasn’t right and you’re not going to risk your entire summer for a race like that.

I saw she got criticism in some quarters for pulling out but, come on, she has to get her priorities right. And I also know she was really upset at having to pull out because she was excited to race and it says a lot about her that she has become so invested and interested in the 400m. She knew she could be in the mix to win a medal at the UK Championships and sees improving her performance over the one-lap event as a key part of her pursuit of the 800m world record, but she is also developing a very real curiosity about the event for its own sake.

I know this because, when we were in Birmingham working at the UK Championships, Keely came and sought out myself and Iwan Thomas to get some advice on running the 400m.

We were having dinner when she arrived at our table and said: “You’re just the people I want to speak to.” She sat with us for half an hour and was asking our opinion on certain aspects of the event. 

With her first one at the Rome Diamond League, she went out too hard for the first 200m. And then, during the heat in Birmingham, she felt that she went out too slowly, so she was looking for some thoughts on how to run it.  

I found it refreshing that she took the time to seek us out and the level of detail she wants to go into is impressive in itself. I don’t think she’s a fan of starting blocks but she is thinking deeply about what she wants to do. She’s extremely sharp, she’s extremely driven and she’s going above and beyond. I’m looking forward to her next one. I hope there wasn’t too much damage done in Birmingham and that we can see her having a really good crack at that 800m world record in London on July 18. 

A few days after that, the athletics circus will head north to Glasgow and I’m enthused by that, too. Does athletics need the Commonwealth Games? I don’t think so. Should we still sit back and enjoy the ride? Absolutely.