London 2012 'helped' Glasgow 2014, says Grevemberg

The London 2012 Olympic and Parlympic Games have helped a great deal in the preparations leading up to The Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014, according to 2014’s CEO, David Grevemberg.

“London wiped away a huge amount of cynicism around the concept of ‘the power of sport’, which I think is particularly important,” said Grevemberg speaking to Sports Management magazine. “There’s now a belief in what sport can achieve: there was a feeling in London that the nation was ‘winning together.’ As a result there’s now more trust in major events and what they can achieve. London is a great reference point for us and I’m confident that we can deliver something similar next year.”

Grevemberg also praised the effect that London 2012 has had on volunteering numers. For 15,000 volunteer roles at the games, 50,811 applications were received – a new Commonwealth Games record and more than the Manchester and Melbourne Games’ total numbers combined.

“I’ve no doubt that great success of volunteering during the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics contributed to people’s excitement and interest in our volunteering programme,” continued Grevemberg. “We also opened it up to 16-year-olds as port of our commitment to youth: more than 40 per cent of applicants were between the ages of 16 and 24."

A full interview with Davd Grevemberg is available in the Q3 edition of Sports Management magazine. Click here for the full interview.