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The 2026 Commonwealth Games
Before we get into it, we have a favour to ask…
If you can’t compete at the Commonwealth Games, you can still compete in the Squiz race to get us to 6,000 audience survey responses… Each year we ask our readers and listeners to tell us what you’re loving, what you don’t, and what we can bring you more of. It takes 10 minutes (or less), and you’ll enter the draw to win a little prize from us - almost as good as a gold medal… Head to this link to have a go, legends…
The 2026 Commonwealth Games
We’ve just bid adios to the FIFA men’s World Cup, but sports fans can keep a bounce in their step because the 2026 Commonwealth Games are here… They’re being held in Glasgow in Scotland after the Aussie state of Victoria pulled out of hosting - a controversial decision that’s led to a slimmed-down, low-cost format of the Games with fewer events. So in this Squiz Shortcut, we’ll get you up to speed with:
Why Victoria pulled out
What these and future Commonwealth Games will look like
And some of the Aussie talent to watch out for
🙋🏻♀️ This newsletter was written by Larissa Huntington and Sophie Felice
Squiz the Shortcut
Wow, another big sporting event…
Yep, that World Cup shaped hole in your life/social media feed won’t last long because the Commonwealth Games are starting tomorrow morning - and Australia is going in as the team to beat after topping the medal tally in Birmingham in 2022.
When can we watch?
Early starts are back, baby - the opening ceremony and most gold medal races kick off around 4am AEST, so luckily we’re match fit from the WC.
How did the Commonwealth Games start?
They were first held in 1930 as a friendlier alternative to the Olympics, to build goodwill among nations of the British Empire. They're held every 4 years and are hosted by a Commonwealth nation - Ahmedabad in India has locked in the centenary Games in 2030. That’s a nice bit of certainty to have because the Commonwealth Games Federation has been finding it increasingly difficult to lock in hosts, given it’s become very expensive - it was the main reason Victoria pulled out of hosting these Games…
Remind me about that…
Victoria’s Premier at the time Dan Andrews made the call in July of 2023 - and he did that because the budget had blown out to 3 times the original cost estimate. When the state won the hosting gig in April 2022, the event was supposed to cost around $2.6 billion, but within about a year, estimates blew out to around $7 billion. Andrews said he wasn’t prepared to take funding away from hospitals and schools for an event that would last 12 days.
Was Victoria able to walk away?
Not for free… The state had to pay a $380 million compensation settlement to the Commonwealth Games Federation for breaking the contract, which came with plenty of blowback…
What was the fallout?
It had huge economic implications for the state… The hosting plan was to spread events across 5 regional hubs - Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Shepparton and Gippsland - which had all been banking on a tourism boost and major upgrades. That was suddenly pulled, though the state still ended up directing $2 billion to a regional fund for housing, tourism and upgrades to sporting facilities. Still, Andrews' opponents had a field day with it and said the saga had embarrassed Victoria on the world stage.
How did Glasgow enter the picture?
The Commonwealth Games organisers were left scrambling to find a replacement. In September 2024, Glasgow took over - but only on the condition it cost nothing in public funding. The city already had the sports infrastructure, but the short lead time means this year's Games are a scaled-down version of the usual event, using existing venues. There’s also no athlete’s village - teams are staying in hotels.
So, what’s on the program?
The number of sports has been halved from 20 down to 10 - so no hockey, cricket, rugby sevens or diving (boo…). And, as has been the case since the 2002 Manchester Games, para events will be part of the same schedule, with the same venues and broadcast slots, and they’ll contribute to the same medal tally. It’s a move that para athletes say has been fantastic for breaking down stigma around disability and it’s been great for promoting their sports.
Why don’t the Olympics do it that way?
It’s down to the sheer size of the event - reports say there’s just too many athletes all up to cater for an integrated Games, so they’ve kept it split…
Got it… What are the sports at these Games?
There are 6 sports combining able-bodied and para events - athletics, swimming, track cycling, 3x3 basketball, bowls, and weightlifting. And then there are 4 sports that will have only able-bodied athletes competing, and they’re boxing, artistic gymnastics, judo, and netball.
Where are we looking good?
For starters, in netball - we’re going in as the reigning champions from the Birmingham Comm Games and the last Netball World Cup in 2023… And aside from the netty court, we’re also tipped to dominate in the pool, at the velodrome and on the track.
Let’s begin in the pool…
Some names to look out for are Cam McEvoy who’ll be chasing his first individual gold at a Commonwealth Games. You might remember him winning Olympic Gold in Paris and he also won World Championship gold in Japan in 2023, so if he takes out the men’s 50m freestyle in Glasgow, he’ll complete his career ‘Triple Crown’. Fun fact: his training schedule doesn’t include as much swimming as you might think…
What does he do instead?
His approach relies far more on dry land work (think, rock climbing, pull-ups and weight training) to build the strength and power needed for sprint freestyle rather than lots of lap miles, and it’s changed the way coaches think about sprint training for the pool…
Who else should we listen out for?
Also in the pool, our women’s 200m freestyle superstar Mollie O’Callaghan (you’ll remember her epic race against Ariarne Titmus in Paris) has been given the green light to compete but she’s had a bumpy lead in with spinal stress fractures and a shoulder injury… Titmus has retired so she’ll be in Scotland as part of the Channel 7 broadcast team instead of in the pool, and another big name that won’t be swimming is backstroke queen Kaylee McKeown - she had to withdraw from the team due to a bout of glandular fever.
Who’s aiming to fill her flippers?
The spotlight will shift to 20yo rising star Iona Anderson who’s now a favourite to win the women's 100m backstroke. While we’re poolside, another name to quickly shout out is our youngest competitor at the Games, 14yo vision-impaired para-swimmer Mia Hogan (she has an S13 classification). She’s making her Games debut so keep an ear out for her name…
How about on the track?
There’s been a heap of buzz around our track team leading into these Games, so lots of people will be watching to see how they perform. One name we’ve been hearing a lot since she won a silver medal in Paris for the women’s 1,500m is Jess Hull. She’s fresh off a Diamond League win in London for the 3,000m, and she’s aiming to be the first woman in history to win gold in the Commonwealth Mile - it’s over a distance of a mile which is 1,609.34m.
What’s the Commonwealth Mile?
It’s an old race they’ve brought back this year to replace the 1,500m in honour of the ‘Miracle Mile’ of 1954. To explain, at the 1954 Games in Vancouver, England’s Roger Bannister and Australia’s John Landy raced each other over a mile, and it became legendary because it was the first time in history that 2 men broke the 4 minute mile barrier in the same race. It was a huge deal at the time, and our Jess Hull is going to give it a crack, as well as competing in the 5,000m…
And in the men’s mile?
This is shaping up to be a cracking race on the final Sunday (Oz time) of the Games between Aussie Cam Myers who just set an Oceania record, Oliver Hoare, who’s the reigning Commonwealth champion, and Scotland’s Josh Kerr, who’s just broken the mile world record. The men's and women’s mile finals are tipped to be ones to wake up for - they’re on the last Sunday of the Games…
How about our sprinters?
After making plenty of headlines in the past year, all eyes will be on Lachie Kennedy who’s run sub-10 seconds over 100m. His teammates, Rohan Browning and Eddie Osei-Nketia have also clocked that time but it wasn’t counted due to wind assistance. All of that to say, commentators are very excited about the calibre of talent among our sprinters and what they might achieve in Glasgow…
Is Gout Gout competing?
The 18yo isn’t among the team this time - he’d made the call to skip the Games to focus on the under-20 World Championships in Oregon, but he recently tore his hamstring and he’s going to have to spend the rest of the year in rehab for that. It’s a major bummer for him and his fans but he says when he’s back, he’ll be preparing for the LA Olympics in 2028…
And what are our chances in cycling?
Paris gold medallists Conor Leahy and Oliver Bleddyn are competing in the team pursuit, and in the women’s Georgia Baker (who won triple gold in Birmingham) is in peak form for the team pursuit, points race and scratch events. Apart from that, there could be a side-serve of drama at the velodrome…
Spill the tea…
You might remember that Olympic sprint silver medalist Matthew Richardson controversially switched teams to represent Britain. He’s the reigning Commonwealth champion (he won that wearing green and gold) so it’s going to be a bit of a showdown when he goes up against his former Aussie teammates including his ex sprint partner Leigh Hoffman, wearing English colours.
Surely sport will be the winner on the day…
As longtime commentator Jo Griggs says: Sport “generally brings out the best in people … it’s impossible not to get excited about it” no matter what team you’re going for… Go, you good things…
Onto our Recommendations
Reading: This piece about the history of the Commonwealth Mile and why the Games have brought it back this year…
Watching: The daily schedule of events for the Games so you can stay on top of what’s happening and what to watch. You can catch the events live or watch the replays on Channel 7 and 7Plus…
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