Commonwealth Games 2026: Para Sport, Swimming And Track Cycling To Shine As Top Medal Events

Commonwealth Games 2026: Para sport, swimming and track cycling to shine as top medal events (Image Source: IANS)

The Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome: The Glasgow 2026 Organising Company on Thursday announced the medal event programme for the 23rd Commonwealth Games, with para sport, track cycling and swimming set for the most extensive medal event programmes in Commonwealth Games history.

The Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games will take place from July 23 to August 2, 2026 and will feature a 10-sport programme concentrated across four venues within an eight-mile corridor of the city, with over 200 gold medals up for grabs across the 10 days of sporting competition.

Glasgow 2026 will showcase a fully integrated para sport programme across six of the ten sports, with a Commonwealth Games record 47 medal events in para disciplines.

The action-packed sporting programme will take place at the Commonwealth Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, Scottish Exhibition Centre (SEC), Scotstoun Stadium and Tollcross International Swimming Centre, with the 10 sports on the schedule comprising of: Artistic Gymnastics, Athletics and Para Athletics, 3x3 Basketball and 3x3 Wheelchair Basketball, Boxing, Swimming and Para Swimming, Bowls and Para Bowls (indoor), Judo, Netball, Track and Para Track Cycling, Weightlifting and Para Powerlifting.

The Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome is set to see a very busy and full programme of racing, as Glasgow hosts the biggest track cycling programme ever seen at a Commonwealth Games. The track cycling programme will see 26 medal events in total across para and non-para disciplines.

The para track cycling programme has doubled in size from Birmingham 2022, with eight medals available, including the C1-C3 (men) and C4-C5 (women) time trials and individual pursuits for the first time.

The Tollcross International Swimming Centre will also see a jam-packed schedule as Glasgow 2026 prepares for the most extensive swim programme in Commonwealth Games history, with 56 medal events in total across both para and non-para competitions. In a Games’ first, the men’s 800m freestyle and women’s 1500m freestyle races will be included.

In Scotstoun, World Athletics has made an innovative change to the athletics competition with the return of the Commonwealth Mile. Last run in 1966, the Mile race, which will be run on the track, is a nod to the ‘The Miracle Mile’ at the Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, Canada in 1954, when England's Roger Bannister and Australian John Landy – the only two sub-four-minute runners in the world at the time – went head to head only two months after Bannister became the first athlete to run a sub-four minute mile.

The athletics programme has also been adapted to encourage strength and depth of competition across all 74 territories, with the mixed 4x400m relay included.

It is also the first time in the history of the Commonwealth Games that para athletics will see athletes competing in jumping, throwing and track events, with all three disciplines being included on the programme for the first time.

Over on the Basketball court, the huge success of the 3x3 programme in Birmingham has seen the 3x3 Wheelchair Basketball competitions for men and women extend from six teams to eight and 3x3 Basketball competitions for men and women extend from eight teams to 12.

Chief Executive of Glasgow 2026, Phil Batty OBE, said “What makes the Commonwealth Games so special to so many is its fully integrated sport programme. I am proud that Glasgow 2026 will see the biggest Para sport medal event programme in Games’ history and will play such an important role in growing, supporting and championing Para sport.

“Glasgow 2026 is a bridge to the Commonwealth Games of tomorrow and we have a clear vision that it will be brilliantly different. The huge Track Cycling and Swimming programmes, alongside the return of the Mile in Athletics, a wealth of disciplines introduced to the Games for the first time across the Para Athletics, Para Track Cycling and Para Swimming programmes, not to mention the increase in 3x3 Basketball and 3x3 Wheelchair Basketball teams, makes the Glasgow 2026 sporting programme a really exciting prospect for fans and athletes alike.

“I'm confident that with action-packed programmes across all four venues in the city, there's something for everyone to enjoy. Glasgow 2026 is set to be a world-class sporting celebration, filled with passion, fun, and outstanding sport!”

Chief Executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation, Katie Sadleir CNZM, said “This compelling medal event programme continues the red thread of innovation that is a key component of Glasgow 2026’s compelling concept – in terms of sports formats and disciplines, the compact number of sports, and concentrated number of existing venues.

“We are thrilled to see such an exciting medal programme for the Commonwealth Games that will be sure to delight and excite fans attending in-person or watching at home across each day of competition.

“With more Para sport medals than ever before in the Games, Glasgow 2026 promises to be a truly inclusive festival of sport and celebration of culture and diversity that inspires our athletes.”

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said, “The mile is the quintessential Commonwealth athletics event whose return to the Games in Glasgow 2026 I very much welcome.

“With more Para sport medals than ever before in the Games, Glasgow 2026 promises to be a truly inclusive festival of sport and celebration of culture and diversity that inspires our athletes.”

Article Source: IANS