By Duncan Mackay

London 2012 beach volleyballFebruary 8 - Sports who wanted to be included on the programme for the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast have had their hopes dashed after Australian officials revealed that there would be no additions.


Beach volleyball, especially, had been pushing for inclusion, while canoeing, judo and ten pin bowling had also applied.

"The sports programme will reflect the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) stipulated 10 core sports (including Para-sports) and an additional seven optional sports,'' Gold Coast 2018 said in a statement.

"The Commonwealth Games Federation caps the number of sports at 17.''

Athletics, aquatics, badminton, boxing, hockey, lawn bowls, women's netball, squash, rugby sevens and weightlifting are the core sports for 2018 while the Gold Coast has chosen basketball, shooting, table tennis, cycling, gymnastics, triathlon and wrestling, which they had nominated in their Bid Book presented to the CGF in May 2011.

Athletics at New Delhi 2010Athletics is one of ten core sports on the Commonwealth Games programme

Athletics, lawn bowls, power lifting and swimming will be the Para-sports at Gold Coast 2018.

"The sports programme was carefully developed to provide a balance of sports with consideration given to potential athlete participation levels, the number of Commonwealth nations hosting international tournaments and participant numbers from the Commonwealth at World Championships," said Nigel Chamier, the chairman of Gold Coast 2018.

"We are confident that the sports featured in our event will have international appeal and attract the very best athletes."

The claims of the sports who had applied to be part of the programme had been carefully considered, claimed Chamier.

"All submissions were considered by the GOLDOC (Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation) Sport and Technical Committee, including the Australian Commonwealth Games Association, and the GOLDOC Board," he said.

"The review was conducted in accordance with the strict criteria set by the CGF for inclusion in the Commonwealth Games.

"All four applicants failed to meet a sufficient number of criteria to warrant being proposed to the CGF for inclusion in the 2018 sports programme."

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