'A bit s***': Why criticising the Commonwealth Games is a fast track to pain

Eight years ago, it was Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt in the dock for making insensitive remarks about the Commonwealths. Photo / AP

Opinion

OPINION:

Those surprised by the scale of the furore sparked by British swimmer Adam Peaty's comments at Sandwell Aquatics Centre on Monday – basically stating that the Commonwealth Games were a bit 'meh' and the Olympics were a bigger deal for him – might care to recall a similar spat eight years ago in Glasgow.

On that occasion it was Usain Bolt in the dock for making insensitive remarks about the Commonwealths. The Jamaican sprinter, while waiting in the rain for his car at the athletes' village, allegedly told a Times journalist that "the Olympics were better", that he was "not really" having fun in Glasgow, and that he felt the Commonwealths were "a bit s---". The backlash that ensued when the Times published a 70-word transcript of that conversation in the following day's paper dwarfed this latest farrago.

Bolt denied making the comments, the Times refused to back down, and the Jamaican's security had to intervene at the netball arena the next day, where Bolt turned up to watch Jamaica's 'Sunshine Girls'. One journalist (not this one) had his accreditation ripped off him in a heated row with Bolt's manager.

Suffice to say, emotions can run high when the quality of the Commonwealth Games is called into question.

England's Adam Peaty celebrates after winning the men's 50m breaststroke final at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on August 2. Photo / AP

The truth is, though, Peaty was right. The Commonwealths are not where it is at for world-class athletes. He was merely stating facts when he said: "Commonwealths? For me? In the grand scheme of things, it is about two years' time [the Olympics]."

That might sound arrogant. Or "disrespectful", which was the allegation levelled at him by BBC pundit Mark Foster, who said it belittled the achievement of athletes such as James Wilby who beat Peaty to become Commonwealth champion. But it doesn't make what Peaty said untrue. Wilby knows that as well as anyone.

He could have been more tactful, of course. Like a dinner party guest who loudly remarks the meat is overcooked, it might have been more polite not to mention it in front of his host. But cut the guy some slack – especially as he was big enough to show contrition for his earlier comments after he won the men's 50 metre breaststroke on Tuesday night.

The debate does spark a wider conversation about the Commonwealth Games more generally; about their role and worth in the sporting universe. The truth is, if the Olympics are the biggest show on earth, the Commies are a bit 'village fete' by comparison. These are still world-class athletes competing at Birmingham, to be sure. Most of them anyway. But there is a reason Bolt turned up only once in his career for a 4 x 100m relay. Track and field without the Americans? Gymnastics without the Russians or Chinese or Japanese or Eastern Europeans? The Commonwealths are not the pinnacle of these sports.

And that is fine. The Games are a celebration of our relationship with those nations; an opportunity for athletes to gain experience; to compete for an international title; for home nations athletes to compete for their home nations. Some sports, such as hockey, have many of the strongest countries in the world in the Commonwealth. Others do not. There is no need to be too sensitive about any of this, or try to dress up the Games as something they are not.

Personally I enjoy all the idiosyncrasies, the randomness, the fact you are never quite sure who will be in great form and who will not. But cancelling Peaty for stating facts is ridiculous.

• Tom Cary is the Daily Telegraph's senior sports correspondent