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Every four years, the Commonwealth Games showcase more than our sporting prowess. They also help shape the story we want to share with the world.
Australia has hosted more Commonwealth Games than any other nation — Sydney (1932), Perth (1962), Brisbane (1982), Melbourne (2006) and Gold Coast (2018).
With the shock announcement this week that Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has called it quits on the 2026 Melbourne Games, we take a look at some of the long-lasting legacies events like this leave us with.
Matilda the mascot
One of the most iconic images of games gone by is Matilda, the winking kangaroo mascot for the 1982 Brisbane Games.
The 13-metre statue is proudly displayed at the Traveston Service Station in Gympie, Queensland.
Chevron Australia Downstream spokesperson Adrian Kwintowski said the marsupial statue was a much-loved destination for tourists.
"Matilda is a real icon for us and also the local community," Mr Kwintowski said.
"Everybody stops as they are driving up or down the highway. We see a lot of families taking photos with her.
"We get well over 2,000 people a day stopping at Caltex Traveston. So many people are just attracted to her, to take photos with her.
"People connect with her. She still has that presence. She still pulls people. Stories come out and people tell their kids about the Commonwealth Games back in Brisbane in 1982."
On the hunt for missing marine statues
The 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne were lauded as a moment in Australian sporting history.
As part of the opening ceremony, 72 big sea creature sculptures were floated down the Yarra River, each one representing a participating country.
After the games wrapped up, the fish were donated to town councils across Victoria to be used as tourist attractions.
The locations of most are known — a Bonefish and a Papuan Black Bass now live out their days at the Melbourne Museum, and the small South Gippsland town of Fish Creek has combined two fish to create the Blue Angel Fish, now a local landmark.
However, more than two dozen sculptures have gone missing since the games, and one Swinburne University film student has made it his mission to track them down.
Maxwell Griggs and his friends have been searching far and wide for the missing sea creatures.
"The search is going well," he said.
"We have unlocked a lot of history about some of the fish."
But Mr Griggs said it was still unclear exactly where 15 of the giant fish were hiding.
"We don't have any leads, but I think that is pretty exciting, personally," he said.
"Even though we know nothing about some of these fish, we will see where it takes us."
So far, that search has taken Mr Griggs and his friends to the esplanade in Lakes Entrance in Gippsland, where the Sea Bass sculpture representing the island nation of Jersey stands.
It made its way there after being dumped at a junkyard in Morwell.
The scales that originally adorned the sculpture have been stripped away, leaving just the skeleton.
Mr Griggs said the search for the other sculptures was ongoing, and he had a detective-style corkboard with string, photos and suspected locations that he used to help track them down.
“There are 30 fish that we are trying to find," he said.
"We know a few of them have been destroyed, but I reckon if we can even find a couple … then that would be good."
Major events showcase city
Museums Victoria's history and technology head Michelle Stevenson said major public events like the Commonwealth Games helped cities and countries raise their profile on the international stage but also captured their identity.
"The 2006 Melbourne games had all of the imagery about Melbourne being a contemporary city with hopes for the future and acknowledging our connection to the past with first nations peoples," Dr Stevenson said.
She said mascots drew on strong national symbols.
While tangible things like mascots and infrastructure help remember moments, they also remind the public of the pulse of a city or country at the time.
During the Brisbane Games, an Aboriginal Land Rights protest was staged, leading to a number of arrests.
What was described as Queensland's biggest Aboriginal march, with 2,000 people waking peacefully from the city to the park across the Brisbane River on September 26, 1982, led to another demonstration in Melbourne on October 8 to protest over the treatment of the land rights supporters during the games.
Dr Stevenson says the broader context of what else was happening around the games is important to remember.
She said games lent themselves to cities hosting bigger events, attracting more tourism, and building on commerce and new business opportunities, but they also told our narrative to the world.