British Olympic Association chair Lord Sebastian Coe said the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games will be defined by what they leave behind.
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Coe, who headed up the London Olympic Organising Committee, said it would be the aftermatch of the event that would be its defining feature.
"Events have to leave legacy," he said.
"I talked to (Gold coast Commonwealth Games chief) Mark Peters up on the Gold Coast just the other day about this.
"For events to be meaningful and have traction in communities you have to be able to define what it is you're going to be able to leave behind."
Coe has been on the Gold Coast for the Oceania Track and Field congress and said that the organisers were on the right path.
"We talked about volunteer programs, we talked about young ambassadors, we talked about getting local people engaged in everything from construction programs through to the engagement programs that allow the values of the Commonwealth to come alive in classroom settings.
The dual Olympic 1500m gold medallist said the Commonwealth Games still held relevance as a major sporting event.
"It's the world's third largest multi sports event," he said.
"It's a heap of competitors and, I would say this wouldn't I, but winning a sprint title or a distance title at the Commonwealth games is as hard as winning it in a World Championships or an Olympic games.
"I think the Commonwealth Games is probably the most meaningful way and sport is the most meaningful way through which the Commonwealth comes together.
Coe continued his defence for the inclusion of all current track events in the Olympics in an address in Brisbane.
A candidate for the International Association of Athletics Federations presidency to be decided on August 19, Coe admitted the sport needed to work harder to engage fans.
"In the last few years we've found it harder than we've ever found it before to engage with people," he said.
"The audience watching track and field is an ageing audience and we just need to be engaging with young people in a smarter way.
"We have to look at athletics in context," he said.
"If kids are coming out of the birthing channel in the Carribean with a baton in their hands well it's where your world relay championships should be. And if the women's marathon is a quasi-religious experience in Tokyo, that's where you deliver and develop."
