Highlander John Morris will assume one of these important roles during the games.

Mr Morris has been selected as Assistant Track Referee/Assistant Video Referee for the athletics events after impressing judges at the Australian Junior and Open National Championships.

“It’s one of the highest roles so I’m very pleased to be able to have been recognised for the good jobs I have done in the past,” Mr Morris said. 

There will be just three Assistant Track Referee/Assistant Video Referees – Mr Morris, and a Victorian and a Kiwi, tasked with the job of assisting the 30 athletics umpires. 

But this isn’t the first time Mr Morris has represented Australia on the track. He was also part of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. 

At both events, Mr Morris worked in the Technical Information Centre, but this time he will be in among all the action. 

Mr Morris said he was excited to meet and support athletes from the Commonwealth countries. 

“That’s what I’m most excited for,” he said. “And the satisfaction of doing the job well.”

Mr Morris has been heavily involved in athletics for more than 35 years and even though he’s been retired for eight years he is still involved with school athletics. 

As a youngster he was a sprinter. Mr Morris said he was keen to watch the runners in action. 

“The sprinting and the marathon will be the big ones for me, watching their tactics as they move through the different paces,” he said. 

The Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018) will run for 11 days starting on April 4. 

More than 6600 athletes and team officials from 70 nations and territories will take part in the event.