The celebrity guides who showed representatives, including Isle of Man delegates Tonia Lushington and Juliet Holt (picutred above with Gold Coast 2018 operations manager Melissa Price), were led by Chantelle Newbery, the 2004 Olympic 10 metre diving champion, and cycling Sara Carrigan, who at the same Olympics in the Greek capital won the road race.

They were joined by Daph Pirie, one of Australia's most celebrated athletes who was nationally ranked in several events, including ncluding the 100 yards, 440y and 880y, and then went on to captain Australia at hockey, and Anne-Marie Forder, a shooter who who won an Olympic bronze medallist at Sydney in 2000. 

"I am immensely proud of Gold Coast city and know from experience that it would be a brilliant location to host the Commonwealth Games," said Carrigan.

"This region provided me with the perfect training ground to compete for many years at an elite level – it's a combination of the weather, the training facilities and the lifestyle that make it so attractive to athletes from all over the world.

"The delegates were very interested in my experiences not only at Commonwealth and Olympic Games but my training and current cycling school on the Gold Coast."

The Europeans and Canadians, who included Joe and Yasmine Schembri from Gibraltar (pictured below), were the third group of voters to visit the Gold Coast, who are up against rivals Hambantota, before the vote at the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) General Assembly in St Kitts and Nevis on November 11.


They followed delegations from Oceania and Africa. 

The fourth delegation from Caribbean and the Americas will visit the Gold Coast from September 22 until 26. 

Among the facilities the lEuropean and Canadian delegates were shown were Skilled Park, the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre, Metricon Stadium and Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Security and technical questions were among the main topics of discussion.

"The delegates were particularly interested in the development of a Gold Coast Games as a regional model and our identification of innovative solutions to potential infrastructure of selected venues," said Mark Peters, the chief executive of Gold Coast 2018. 

"We were able to demonstrate how our model for the Games would work effectively and deliver sustainable benefits to this city and provide a blueprint for others into the future.

"Wherever we went across the weekend our guests were welcomed with warmth and enthusiasm and have left with a sense that our athletes and our community are very much 'Behind the Bid' and very keen to host a 2018 Commonwealth Games."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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