Today the Gold Coast is celebrating two years until the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.
To mark this special occasion the newly revealed official mascot Borobi visited Griffith Gold Coast campus along with special guests Craig Phillips, Australian Commonwealth Games Association CEO and Steve Moneghetti AM, Chef de Mission of Australian Team.
As the Official University of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Griffith has a lot to offer the Gold Coast and is committed to helping deliver a legacy event.
No one is more delighted than Griffith Sports College Director Duncan Free OAM to be able to show Mr Phillips and Mr Moneghetti the Gold Coast campus and highlight our commitment to sporting excellence through innovative research, teaching, sports scholarships and supporting elite athletes.
Recently statics released by the Australian Institute for Sport placed Griffith in the top two Australian universities who had the most tier one elite athletes.
Craig Phillips, Australian Commonwealth Games Association CEO, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Engagement) Martin Betts, Sports College Director Duncan Free and Steve Moneghetti AM, Chef de Mission of Australian Team.
Ahead of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Griffith will open its new Aquatic Centre on the Gold Coast campus in 2017. The campus is also adjacent to the Parklands Project which will be transformed into the Commonwealth Games Athletes Village and home to 6500 athletes while GC2018 is on.
“Griffith University is leading the way in Australia supporting elite athletes studying at university,” Duncan said.
“We are excited to play a major part in the Commonwealth Games and we have a number of athletes that are aiming to compete at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
“Not only do we support elite athletes, but we are committed to the research and development within sport that assists these elite athletes and teams. This gives our Australian athletes access to this research and the chance to optimise their performance, and also our Griffith students the opportunity to be a part of this cutting edge innovation.”
Over the next two years Griffith will offer more than 250 internships with the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Corporation (GOLDOC) and other industry partners.
So far Griffith has placed nine students in internships and announced the first winner of the Griffith University and Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Sporting Excellence Scholarship to Bachelor of Public Relations and Communications student Rowan Crothers.
Griffith University Deputy Vice Chancellor (Engagement) Professor Martin Betts said he was pleased with the benefits to our students that the partnership with GOLDOC has already created.
“I look forward to seeing what the next two years will bring and am proud that Griffith will play a major role in shaping the Commonwealth Games,” he said.