A springboard to riches and opportunities

FIRST Minister Alex Salmond declared it a victory for "the people of Scotland".

Glasgow's triumphant bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2014 will bring some of the world's top athletes to Scotland.

The event will undoubtedly make Glasgow one of the centres of the sporting world for 11 days that summer, but what will the Games really mean for the Capital?

Tourism bosess hope visitors to the Games will spend tens of millions of pounds outside Glasgow, enjoying day trips from the west coast and extending their stays in Scotland after the sporting action is over.

And sports chiefs say the excitement of the Games will inspire a new generation of Scots children to take to the athletics track, swimming pool and other sports fields. But doubts remain about whether Edinburgh is ready to make the most of the opportunity. The Capital will play host to the event's diving competition.

A £36 million revamp is planned for the Royal Commonwealth Pool, but the city is still struggling to find the money needed to carry out the full-scale overhaul.

The Capital does seem well placed, though, to make huge profits from entertaining visitors. The bid organisers estimate that £55m in profits - out of a total of £81m expected to be generated by the Games - will be made outside the city of Glasgow.

WINNERS: The city of Glasgow reacts to the Games win. Picture: GETTY

While no detailed breakdown is available, Edinburgh is forecast to be the biggest winner.

Ben Carter, VisitScotland's area director for Edinburgh, said: "Around 50 per cent of all overseas visitors include a trip to Edinburgh during their stay in Scotland, so it is likely that many visitors to the Games will extend their stay to include a visit to Edinburgh.

"The Capital will undoubtedly benefit from international exposure from the Games. We can use the Games as a draw card, while opening the window to a range of opportunities, like Edinburgh's summer festivals."

Rob Shorthouse, spokesman for Glasgow 2014, said a conscious decision had been made to schedule the Games so visitors to Scotland could then go to Edinburgh's festivals. He said: "The dates we are talking about for the Games mean the closing ceremony will be just when the Festival starts."

Businesses in the Capital will also be eyeing up a range of opportunities, according to Graham Bell, spokesman for Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce.

"Edinburgh contractors will be involved in the delivery of the infrastructure for the Games. We could also host training teams arriving ahead of the Games. Accommodation is the area where Edinburgh stands to benefit most."

The Commonwealth Games are a massive enterprise. More than 6500 athletes from 71 countries as well as tens of thousands of supporters are expected to come to Scotland.

With leading sporting nations, such as Australia, Canada and Kenya, taking part, some of the world's leading athletes will be on show.

The organisers will be helping to draw up a programme to encourage youngsters across Scotland to get involved in sport on the back of the Games.

Glasgow 2014 will also offer some of the city's rising stars the chance to perform at the top level in front of a home support. Two of the country's leading young divers and medal hopefuls are Edinburgh-based Grace Reid, 11, and Anna Sless, 12.

Grace's father, Allan Reid, said: "We are excited about the proposed development of new diving facilities (at the Commonwealth Pool) which will be state-of-the-art and ensure that a centre of sporting excellence will be available to everyone who wishes to participate in water sports."

The city has drawn up £36m plans to overhaul the Commonwealth Pool, creating a new 50-metre, eight-lane pool; a re- orientated 25-metre diving pool; a dry dive facility; a 25-metre pool; new soft play facilities; an expanded gym and redesigned changing areas.

But the rising cost of the project means the council is facing a £17m funding gap and there are concerns about the city's ability to complete the work without more help from the Scottish Government.

The Government, which has pledged £4m, has said the council also needs to play its part in funding the work. Despite the uncertainty, deputy council leader Steve Cardownie said: "We have signed up to it and we believe we can put together the package.

"It has never entered our minds to scale it down. People think it's only a diving pool, but we will be doing a full-scale refurbishment of the whole A-listed building."

However, Paul Godzik, Labour's recreation spokesman at the city council, fears people in Edinburgh could be left without key sporting facilities just when they will be most in demand.

He says: "If we go forward with a redevelopment at Meadowbank and with the Commonwealth Pool having to be refurbished, it means in the critical period of the run-up to the Olympics in 2012 and the Commonwealth Games in 2014, Edinburgh's two major sporting facilities will be closed."

"There will be a build-up of people wanting to get involved in sport and getting really excited.

"But people in Edinburgh could lose the sporting opportunities they might have had because of bad planning."

1970 AND 1986 REMEMBERED

THE buzz of taking part in Games in front of a home crowd is a highlight of many athletes' career.

The Commonwealth Games were first held in Edinburgh in 1970 and inspired generations of future medal-winners.

Author Hamish Robertson, 60, from Liberton, took part in the long jump and triple jump events and looks back on the occasion with much nostalgia.

"It was a very emotional Games, very exciting," he recalls. "I was 23, and meeting the competitors from around the world was an amazing experience. There was also a great spur to do well in front of your friends."

Hamish stayed at the athletes' village in Pollock Halls and remembers the camaraderie, the superb crowd, the "fantastic atmosphere" - and meeting a young champion in the making.

"In the long jump there is always someone who rakes the pit and that person was Allan Wells, who subsequently won 100 metre Olympic Gold. He was a youngster inspired by the Games."

The Games returned to Edinburgh in 1986 when the city became the first to stage them twice after no others bid for the right. A total of 31 countries pulled out in a row over sporting links with apartheid-torn South Africa.

Organisers then had to juggle a £3 million deficit after sponsorship from the private sector fell below expectations.