Organisers of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games say they've designed a model that could help New Zealand host the event in the future.
With exactly a month to go, most host cities would be chasing the clock, but the Gold Coast Games are a rare exception - they'll be ready on time, and on budget.
The soaring skyline makes a big impression, but on the world stage, the Gold Coast is small. With fewer than 600,000 residents, it's the smallest city in 24 years to host the Commonwealth Games.
- Comm Games: Aus CEO wants NZ's transgender weightlifter banned
- Kiwi volleyball brothers put sibling rivalry aside ahead of Comm Games
Organisers say New Zealand could use the Gold Coast as a hosting blueprint.
"There's a lot of learnings for us on future cities, and we hope to see New Zealand bidding soon, about how you can run things that are still spectacular but on a smaller scale budget-wise," Commonwealth Games chief executive Mark Peters says.
The Gold Coast Games are a rare commodity - both on budget and on time, spending the same as the Sydney Olympics despite 18 years of rising costs.
"We don't need the biggest and best facilities; we need facilities that actually work," Mr Peters says.
There is no purpose-built marquee venue - instead, it's the local Aussie rules football ground. Track and field is only temporary - after the Games they'll put it all back - and they never built a roof for the swimming pool, as races will be outdoors, rain or shine.
"Mate, if you jump in the pool, you get wet, don't you?" Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate says.
The Games have cost the Gold Coast $2 billion, but organisers say the benefits will be worth twice as much. The challenge - as with so many other host cities - is what happens when the Games are gone. Too many others have got it wrong - in Sarajevo, Athens, and already in Rio, once-proud Olympic venues stand like ghosts of Games gone by.
"A lot of sad things happen where you see these great sporting facilities created and then they just rot. And we were not going to do that," Mr Peters says.
The Gold Coast built just three new venues, and already they're vital for community use.
Organisers say the Gold Coast is the model that could see New Zealand make a winning bid, and it only takes a glance across the Tasman to see small cities can do big things.
"Whether it's Auckland, Wellington, I know Christchurch has been talked about, we'd love to see it in New Zealand."
Newshub.
