There are few words in the sporting lexicon that are thrown about more frequently, yet are less meaningful than “legacy”.
In the past couple of decades in particular, you’ll be hard-pushed to find a single sporting event that hasn’t come accompanied with the promise of leaving a “lasting legacy”.
Whether it be increasing participation, inspiring future champions or improving local activity levels, sporting events rarely, if ever, come without the assurance that a legacy will remain in the city long after the athletes have returned to their home nations.
The latest nail in the coffin of the “legacy” guarantee came in this very newspaper this week.
As part of The Herald’s “The Future of Glasgow” series, it was reported that Glasgow’s hosting of the 2014 Commonwealth Games failed to make Scottish children or adults more active.
This, I have to admit, is one of the least surprising stories I’ve read in these pages this year, or any year.
Major sporting events do not, in any way, shape or form, have a lasting impact on wider activity and health levels within the local community, and the sooner this promise stops being made, the better.
The Commonwealth Games in 2014 cost £540 million to stage.
It was an eye-wateringly high price tag, but the assurance to the Scottish, and particularly the Glaswegian public, was that the payback would be vast; not only would the event itself be great but also, facilities would be built and, most importantly in most people’s books, the Games would, we were promised, transform Scotland’s health.
It would inspire the nation to get out there and become far more active than it currently was.
Except, of course, Glasgow 2014 was never, in a million years, going to make even a dent in Scotland’s health crisis, never mind transform it.
This country has long been labelled the “sick man of Europe”. It’s a shameful state of affairs and one that few wouldn’t want to change.
Ridding Scotland of it’s sickness epidemic would be life-changing to so many people, but it was so utterly misguided to believe the hosting of the Commonwealth Games 11 years ago was going to be the answer to this problem.
Never was Glasgow 2014 going to shift the dial significantly; indeed, it’s been proven it didn’t even shift it negligibly.
If anything, activity levels have decreased since Glasgow 2014.
As outlined in The Herald earlier this week, the figures when it comes to physical activity are demoralising, to say the least.
Official data shows that the percentage of Scots who meet the guidelines for moderate or vigorous physical activity has fallen from 64 percent in 2013 to 63 percent in 2023.
And in Scotland's most deprived areas, it dipped more dramatically, going from 53 percent to 50 percent.
I find it hard to believe that anyone other than the most detached truly believed that the hosting of Glasgow 2014 would improve Scotland’s health. It was never going to produce such a miracle.
If a country wants to improve health and activity levels, an entirely different approach must be taken.
Things like the ‘Daily Mile’ - an initiative which encourages all school children to walk or run a mile each day - should be prioritised.
Equally, making access to sporting facilities much more affordable would help. As would making Scotland a more friendly walking and cycling country.
People are inactive for so many reasons, and none of those reasons are because they haven’t seen Lynsey Sharp or Nicola Adams or Usain Bolt compete on Scottish soil.
This conversation comes, of course, just over a year before the Commonwealth Games returns to Glasgow.
With it proving immensely difficult to find a host city for the 2026 edition of the Games, Glasgow ultimately stepped into host next year’s event and, almost certainly, save the Commonwealth Games from extinction.
It’s notable that, so far at least and in stark contrast to Glasgow 2014, there’s been precious little talk of any legacy being left behind from Glasgow 2026 in terms of improving activity levels.
This is partly due to the significantly lower budget for next summer’s event - Glasgow 2026 will cost only an estimated £114 million - and partly, it has to be assumed, because the penny is beginning to drop that these major sporting events just cannot single-handedly make significant transformations in a city or country’s health.
Watching an elite athlete win a gold medal might inspire some to go out for a run the next morning, but what it won’t do is inspire anyone to change their lifestyle entirely, and let go of deeply ingrained unhealthy habits.
My deep disdain for legacy promises doesn’t, incidentally, necessarily put me off the prospect of hosting major sporting events.
There are many, many benefits that can be gleaned from a sporting event coming to a city and indeed Glasgow 2014 can be held up as an example of this.
The Games itself in 2014 was an absolute triumph, and there are few who wouldn’t agree that those 2 weeks eleven years ago were a joy to be a part of.
In addition, Glasgow 2014 left several world class sporting facilities in the city which remain well-used today; it contributed significantly to the Scottish economy; and it kick-started a deluge of sporting events coming to Glasgow in its aftermath.
So major sporting events can, absolutely, have benefits and leave a legacy of sorts. It’s just that the legacy will, unequivocally, not be improving the health of the host city.
That’s ok, but stop treating us like mugs and pretending a sporting event can transform a nation's health.
