Manchester's new aquatics centre (Allsport).
COMMONWEALTH VENUES
By Andy Hampson, PA Sport
The XVII Commonwealth Games will take place at 14 different venues across Manchester and one in Surrey.
The Games will centre around the £126million Sportcity complex in east Manchester, of which the jewel in the crown is the new City of Manchester Stadium.
Many of the venues have been purpose-built for the Games and are within a short travelling distance of the athletes' village.
The main exception is the National Shooting Centre in Bisley, Surrey, which will host all the shooting events.
City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester: The City of Manchester Stadium, built at a cost of £110m, is the centrepiece of the XVII Commonwealth Games.
The 38,000-capacity arena is main focal point of Sportcity, the new £126million complex which also features an indoor tennis centre, the National Squash Centre, an outdoor athletics warm-up track, an indoor athletics facility, a sports hall, sports science and medicine facilities and office accommodation.
The stadium will host athletics and rugby sevens events as well as the opening and closing ceremonies on July 25 and August 4 respectively.
The athletes' village, which is located on the Fallowfield Campus of the University of Manchester is just 3km
away.
After the Games, the stadium will become home to Manchester City.
National Squash Centre: Six regular courts and one moveable show court have been built at the new National Squash Centre.
The modern facility will become
the home of the Squash Rackets Association after the Games.
National Cycling Centre: The building of the Manchester Velodrome transformed British cycling since it was opened for the World Track Cycling
Championships in 1996.
The internationally-acclaimed venue provided British cyclists with world class facilities and helped prepare them for their success at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
It staged the World Track Cycling Championships again two years ago and has also hosted other sports such as boxing and basketball.
Indoor Tennis Centre: Another of the Sportcity venues, this new facility will
host the table tennis.
There are six tennis courts in two large halls at the
centre, into one of which four showcourts for table tennis will be set up.
The other hall will house a further six competition tables and several practice tables.
G-MEX Centre: The Greater Manchester Exhibition Centre, built in the shell of the city's old Central Station, will host Gymnastics, judo and wrestling.
Manchester International Convention Centre: Located next to the G-MEX, the MICC will stage the weightlifting competition.
A theatre-style auditorium will be constructed in the main hall providing seating for 800 people and creating a
platform of 250 square metres for the event.
Belle Vue Complex: The hockey competitions will be staged a completely renovated £3m facility at Belle Vue Leisure Centre.
Two water-based hockey pitches have been built for the Games as well as a number of additional facilities such as an indoor sports hall, a cricket academy and a multi-media
conference centre for use in the future.
Manchester Aquatics Centre: The £32m purpose built centre is the only complex in the UK with two 50-metre pools as well as separate diving and leisure
pools.
It will host swimming, synchronised swimming and diving and will have a capacity of 2,500 for the Games.
Manchester Evening News Arena: The venue for the netball and boxing finals is the largest multi-purpose indoor entertainment and sports arena in Europe, having a capacity ranging from 7,000 to 21,000.
Heaton Park: Over £32million has been invested to prepare one of the biggest municipal parks in Europe for the Games.
Four top-grade flat greens have been built for
the Games, which will establish the park as one of the top bowls venues in the country.
Salford Quays: The Quays provide a backdrop to the free 20km and 50km walks and
the triathlon.
Wythenshawe Forum: The preliminary stages of the boxing competitions will be held at the Forum.
Bolton Arena: The badminton
competition will be staged at another state-of-the-art facility built in the shadow of Bolton Wanderers' Reebok Stadium.
Rivington: The mountain bike events will take place on the slopes of Rivington, near Horwich. 1913.
National Shooting Centre: All the shooting events will be held 219 miles away from Manchester at the National Shooting Centre at Bisley, Surrey.
