At first glance, it appears to be a wildly optimistic goal, particularly as 19 countries and territories have competed at the Commonwealth Games and never won a medal, but Edmonton 2022 has already thought about how to achieve this in some depth.

Speaking at a press briefing in London on Tuesday (September 2) to mark the one-year countdown to the date when the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) will announce the 2022 host city at its General Assembly in Auckland, New Zealand, Edmonton 2022 chairman Reg Milley unveiled plans for a dedicated Commonwealth Games sporting excellence centre in Edmonton for all nations.

The facility will offer high performance training on campus as well as advice through an online system. The basic theory behind the project cannot be knocked but the logistics are something that need to be examined to assess its feasibility.

With about only 40 per cent of the world's population having an internet connection today, that still leaves a majority without it and therefore unable to access any online training. There is also the cost of travel and flights for nations wanting to visit the centre for training. Milley admits there is still work to be done but hopes to overcome such obstacles through partnerships with both the public and private firms.

Edmonton last hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1978 ©Getty Images



"Do we get companies that would set up an endowment fund, for example, to help the smaller countries participating?" he said. "Do we partner with communications companies to be able to do this online project so they can get involved and help make it so that there is computer access in those places? We think that by the creation of the centre we will be able to move people in and be able to work with them to develop techniques for training.

"There's ways that we can make this happen either through endowment funding or through sports funding. We think we can help with that. We could bring countries together in a central location and provide expertise. We believe we can deliver this so that all 71 nations do become more competitive."

There is also, however, the question of large and already successful sporting nations taking advantage of the facility to increase their chances of dominating the podium places, but Milley envisages that this will not be a problem.

"I see a lot of the larger countries, with funds accessing their own high performance centres," he said.

"What we want to do is create an environment whereby some of those countries that can't do it will do it. I think some of the bigger countries will take advantage of it but if everybody has the same level playing field we can expose smaller countries to it as well as the Australias and the Canadas."

Reg Milley said Edmonton 2022 is keen to support smaller nations to help them achieve their medal winning dreams ©City of Edmonton


Asked about his views on the anti-gay laws in the more than 40 Commonwealth member countries - these criminalise homosexuality and seven of the nations have a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, Milley made it clear that all those attending the Games, should they take place in Edmonton in 2022, would be welcome regardless of their race, religion, gender or sexual orientation.

"Our city is a great believer in equality and when I look at the three major thrusts and the values of the Commonwealth Games, with humanity, equality and destiny, I see that you've got to get there [achieving equality]," he told me. "Some of us are getting there faster than others, but I believe we will eventually all get there. I honestly believe we will. It's the same thing as you see with gender in sport. We are getting better and better all the time and we will get better at this as well.

"There are always differences so what we need to do is to help look at these and work with people and say how can we be better? But these are policy decisions that need to be made by these countries. If I could wave a magic wand and do it, it would be very different but I can't. It is crucial [to create a culture where there is no fear of attending a Games].

"The only stress that we want the athletes to be under at the Games in 2022 is the stress of competition. We don't want any other stresses. None. So we'll be working our hardest to make sure there are none of those stresses."

Edmonton already has a whole host of international standard sports facilities, including the Commonwealth Stadium ©Getty Images



So does being nice mean you won't get anywhere in this dog eat dog world? Edmonton appears a good choice for the CGF. The city has a lot going for it. It has a stable economy, a strong sporting heritage, a whole host of international standard sports facilities, a sound infrastructure network and it is a safe pair of hands having hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1978.

But Milley is very aware of the particularly strong challenge presented by Durban - another potentially excellent host with much experience of staging major events.

"Durban is going to be a formidable opponent and we are going to have to be at the top of our game," he admitted. "Can they do it? Yes, they can. But to us it's not about who can host the Games, it's about who can move the Games further ahead, who can do more relevancy with the Games. When you think about it, there are really only two icons of the Games - there's the Monarchy and the Games.

"So how do we keep both relevant? We've got to do more to move the Commonwealth forward. We are in the ideal position to do that and we are totally focused on these Games. It's not about doing anything else, it's these Games. This is our future."

Emily Goddard is a reporter and subeditor at insidethegames.biz. To follow her on Twitter click here.