GLASGOW, Scotland — The XXIII Commonwealth Games concluded on August 2, 2026, after 11 days of competition that began with the opening ceremony on July 23 at the OVO Hydro. What emerged was a scaled-down yet high-intensity multi-sport event that tested the resilience of the Commonwealth Games movement itself. Hosted in Glasgow for the second time in 12 years, the Games featured approximately 2,700–3,000 athletes from 74 nations and territories competing in just 10 sports across four main venues clustered within an eight-mile corridor: Scotstoun Stadium (athletics and para-athletics), Tollcross International Swimming Centre (swimming and para-swimming), the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome and Arena (track cycling, para-cycling and artistic gymnastics), and the Scottish Event Campus complex including the SEC Armadillo and Hydro (weightlifting, para-powerlifting, boxing, judo, bowls, 3×3 basketball and ceremonies).
The event’s very existence had been in doubt. Originally awarded to the Australian state of Victoria, the Games were abandoned by the Victorian government in July 2023 amid projected costs ballooning to A$6–7 billion. After months of uncertainty, Glasgow stepped in during 2024 with a leaner model funded partly by a settlement from Victoria and designed to rely almost entirely on existing infrastructure. The programme was cut dramatically from the 19 or so sports of Birmingham 2022 to 10: athletics (including para), swimming (including para), artistic gymnastics, track cycling (including para), weightlifting (including para-powerlifting), boxing, judo, lawn bowls (including para), netball and 3×3 basketball (including wheelchair). Traditional Indian medal strongholds such as wrestling, badminton, shooting, hockey, table tennis, squash and cricket were among those omitted. The result was a compact, broadcast-friendly schedule with roughly 215 medal events and a projected delivery cost in the £130–160 million range—far below previous editions.
Australia dominated the overall medal table with 70 gold, 45 silver and 56 bronze for a total of 171 medals. England finished second (29-45-36, 110 total), Canada third (19-20-23, 62), and India fourth with 13 gold, 17 silver and 9 bronze for 39 medals—matching Scotland’s gold count but ranking higher on silvers. New Zealand, Nigeria, Jamaica, Wales and Malaysia rounded out the top 10. Forty-five nations or territories won at least one medal. Australia’s supremacy was driven especially by swimming, where the team collected a record 37 gold medals and 76 medals overall, sweeping freestyle events and relays. South Africa’s Chad le Clos became the most decorated Commonwealth Games athlete in history. Host Scotland celebrated home successes including Josh Kerr’s iconic mile victory.
For India, the reduced programme presented a stern test. The contingent of roughly 124–125 athletes (across able-bodied and para disciplines) arrived without many of its usual high-yield sports. Yet the team delivered a respectable fourth-place finish and its best-ever para campaign at the Games, collecting seven medals including three golds. Boxing emerged as the standout discipline with 10 medals (seven gold, three silver). Weightlifting produced eight medals (one gold, six silver, one bronze). Athletics and para-athletics combined for 16 podium finishes. Judo contributed four medals including two golds. The overall haul of 39 medals was lower than Birmingham 2022’s 61, but the comparison is imperfect given the truncated programme; across comparable sports, India improved its return.
Weightlifting: Mirabai’s Historic Third Gold and Lovepreet’s Near-Miss Silver
Weightlifting at the SEC Armadillo provided some of India’s earliest and most consistent success. Mirabai Chanu opened the gold account with victory in the women’s 48kg category on July 26, securing her third consecutive Commonwealth Games title—an unprecedented achievement for an Indian weightlifter. The campaign continued with a string of silvers: Rishikanta Singh (men’s 60kg), Muthupandi Raja (men’s 65kg), Gyaneshwari Yadav (women’s 53kg), Valluri Ajaya Babu (men’s 79kg) and Harjinder Kaur (women’s 69kg). Bindyarani Devi took bronze in the women’s 58kg.
The heavyweight finale on July 30 belonged to Lovepreet Singh. The 28-year-old from Bal Sachandar village in Amritsar district, son of a tailor who grew up in modest circumstances, produced a career-best performance in the men’s +110kg. He set a Games record of 176kg in the snatch—building a commanding 10kg lead—before adding 212kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 388kg. New Zealand’s David Liti responded with a massive 223kg clean and jerk to reach 389kg and snatch the gold by a single kilogram. Lovepreet’s final attempt at 217kg failed, leaving him with silver. It improved on his Birmingham 2022 bronze and completed India’s weightlifting haul of eight medals. “I thought I would win gold after the snatch, but it was up to God,” Lovepreet said afterwards. “A little disappointed that I couldn’t lift in my final attempt… I have lifted more in training.” His story of perseverance from a labourer’s background resonated widely in Indian sports coverage.
Athletics and Para-Athletics: Chopra’s Silver, Double Podiums and Historic Firsts
Scotstoun Stadium hosted athletics from July 27 to August 1 under often challenging Scottish weather—rain, wind and cool temperatures. India’s track-and-field contingent delivered 10 medals (five silver, five bronze) in able-bodied events plus six more in para-athletics.
Neeraj Chopra’s return was one of the most anticipated storylines. The Olympic champion and 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medallist had missed Birmingham 2022 through injury. Qualifying on July 30, he and compatriots Rohit Yadav and Yash Vir Singh all advanced despite tricky winds that prevented anyone from reaching the automatic mark. In the final on July 31, Chopra produced a season’s best of 85.83m on his second attempt to take silver. Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage claimed gold with a powerful 89.75m. Yash Vir Singh, on debut, produced a personal best 85.41m on his final throw to seize bronze, completing a memorable 2-3 Indian finish. Rohit Yadav placed seventh. Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan finished ninth. Chopra’s consistency in imperfect conditions—four throws over 80m—underlined his class even if the absolute peak form of previous years remained elusive this season.
Other athletics highlights included Gulveer Singh becoming the first Indian to win two individual track medals at a single Commonwealth Games: silver in the 10,000m and bronze in the 5,000m. Murali Sreeshankar took silver in the long jump, Praveen Chithravel silver and Selva Prabhu bronze in the triple jump (repeating a double podium), Sarvesh Kushare silver in the high jump, and Tejaswin Shankar bronze in the decathlon—India’s first medal in the event. Seema Kaliramna added a discus bronze. In para-athletics, Sharmila Dhankar (women’s shot put F57), Dilip Gavit (men’s 100m T47, Games record) and Soman Rana (men’s shot put F57) won gold; Mohammed Basil and Shubham Juyal took silver in related events.
Boxing: Seven Golds Lead the Charge
Indian boxers dominated the ring at the SEC, securing seven gold medals and three silvers for a total of 10 medals—more than half of India’s gold haul. Gold medallists included Preeti Pawar (54kg), Jaismine Lamboria (57kg), Sakshi Chaudhary (51kg), Priya Ghanghas (60kg), Arundhati Choudhary (70kg), Sachin Siwach (60kg) and Ankush (80kg). Lovlina Borgohain (75kg), Jadumani Singh (55kg) and Narender Berwal (+90kg) settled for silver after reaching the finals. The depth and consistency of the boxing contingent proved decisive in elevating India’s overall ranking.
Judo, Para-Powerlifting and Broader Context
Judo delivered two golds (Asmita Dey in women’s -48kg and Harsh Singh in men’s -60kg), one silver and one bronze. Para-powerlifting added a bronze for Jhandu Kumar in the men’s heavyweight. These results, combined with the athletics and weightlifting performances, demonstrated India’s ability to maximise a restricted programme.
Beyond India, the Games produced memorable moments: Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme smashing the long-standing 100m Games record with 9.83 seconds; Kenya’s continued excellence in distance and steeplechase events; Australia’s swimming dominance under stars such as Meg Harris (multiple golds) and distance specialists; host-nation celebrations around Kerr’s mile and Scottish swimming successes; and the emotional first swimming medal for Uganda via Husnah Kukundakwe’s para silver. Track cycling at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome saw Emma Finucane of Wales claim multiple golds. Netball and 3×3 basketball provided team drama, with Australia prevailing in netball.
The closing ceremony on August 2 passed the Commonwealth baton toward Ahmedabad, India, selected to host the 2030 Games (the centenary edition). That decision places additional spotlight on India’s organisational capacity as the country also eyes future Olympic ambitions.
Looking Ahead
Glasgow 2026 will be remembered as a pragmatic reset: lighter, leaner, more sustainable and still capable of delivering elite competition and national pride. For India, the fourth-place finish and standout individual efforts—Mirabai Chanu’s historic three-peat, Lovepreet Singh’s record-breaking near-miss, Neeraj Chopra’s silver return, the boxing gold rush, Gulveer Singh’s double, and multiple athletics and para podium finishes—provided momentum. The absence of several traditional sports limited the overall tally relative to previous Games, yet the quality of performances in the available disciplines was high. As the movement looks toward Ahmedabad 2030 and beyond, the lessons of cost control, venue efficiency and focused programming from Glasgow will shape future editions. Indian athletes, having shown resilience and excellence under constrained circumstances, now turn their attention to the next cycle of major championships with renewed confidence.
The Games reaffirmed that even in a scaled-down format, the Commonwealth remains a vibrant stage for sporting excellence, national storytelling and the next generation of champions.
