‘Home Games great for athletes . . . and for fans’ says Ian Beattie

Wednesday 10th June 2026

Photo via Glasgow 2026

Glasgow 2026 website

By Chris Story

Glasgow’s stature as a host city on the world sporting stage has been praised in the countdown to this summer’s Commonwealth Games.

Ian Beattie MBE, the Chair of UK Athletics and former Chair of scottishathletics, believes the return of the Games next month – followed by the European Athletics Championship in Birmingham just a week later – gives home athletes a strong platform upon which to shine.

For the host cities, Ian is sure that the arrival of international competitors and fans will also bring significant advantages as both build on previous successes, with an inspirational impact.

Beattie, who is also the Chief Operating Officer of independent Scottish legal firm Lindsays, spoke ahead of the Lindsays Sports Forum – Celebrating a Summer of Athletics – taking place in Glasgow this midweek.

It will see him lead a panel discussion with Olympic medalists Denise Lewis and Eilidh Doyle, alongside UK Athletics Chief Executive Jack Buckner, also a former Olympian.

Glasgow is hosting the Commonwealth Games for the second time in 12 years, having staged the event to wide acclaim in 2014.

Ian Beattie, Chair of UK Athletics (photo via Lindsays)

‘Glasgow has built a fantastic reputation worldwide over the years as a top city of sport,’ said Ian.

‘It’s a place sport wants to come to.

‘The reason for that is that sporting bodies know the events in Glasgow are well organised. They know the crowds are passionate and that it’s a sporting city. They know people from all over the world enjoy coming to Glasgow and the welcome they receive.

‘It’s been an absolute mainstay of Glasgow’s strategy as a city to invest in sporting events. There have been a number of major championships – including in world athletics, cycling and gymnastics – in recent years and they have gone fantastically well.’

Beattie says the benefits of this summer’s major athletics events from a United Kingdom perspective are significant as well, with the European Athletics Championships being staged in Britain for the first time to further strengthen Birmingham’s status as a host city, too.

He added: ‘It’s important for Birmingham to have followed up hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2022 with another big event

‘Hopefully the crowds at both events will be the same – passionate, significant. An athletics audience tends to be family-focussed. You see people taking their children to a big event and they’re going to see their heroes.

‘It’s inspirational for them and the next generation.’

Lindsays are a significant supporter of grassroots sport in Scotland.

The firm this year extended sponsorship with scottishathletics for the Lindsays Cross Country Season season to the Lindsays Road Race Series, which included a record 1450 combined field competing in the 5k and 10k events in Edinburgh and Glasgow. The dual sponsorship deal will continue until 2029.

For both crowds and athletes, Beattie believes the competition in Glasgow and Birmingham has a lot to offer.

‘It’s a really exciting summer,’ he said.

‘Any time we have home games – in Scotland or within the UK – there’s great excitement for the athletes, both the established athletes who have been at the top for many years and some of the up-and-coming athletes for whom this will be a new experience. It’s going to be really good.

‘Home advantage makes a huge difference. Not just within the stadium – where you have the majority of the crowd supporting the home athletes, but the feel in the city and the fact you know it’s a big competition and people are talking about it.’

Beattie is looking forward to chatting with the panelists at the Lindsays Sports Forum – who he describes as ‘passionate athletics people’ – sharing their experiences with the invited audience, which will include a strong contingent from athletics clubs looking forward to elite-level insight.

And he is sure that this summer will leave a positive sporting legacy.

He added: ‘I’m a big believer that Glasgow 2014 was a really significant event for the development of athletes in Scotland.

‘For many, it was their first time being at the centre of something as big as that. They liked what they saw and some developed into World champions and Olympic medallists. The Games in Glasgow in 2014 gave them that taste of what it could be like.’