All you need to know about Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games
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The return of the Commonwealth Games to Glasgow is nearly upon us.
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After a troubled time when the future of the event seemed in doubt, attention across a variety of sports will turn to Scotland's biggest city later this month.
Tickets are now on general sale, with all the venues and sports confirmed.
Here is BBC Scotland's guide to the full event.
When are the Commonwealth Games taking place?
Cycling and para-cycling races will be held at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome [Getty Images]The Games will run from 23 July until 2 August 2026.
It will kick off with an opening ceremony on 23 July, at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow.
The following day will see the sporting action begin, with basketball, bowling and swimming among the first competitions to get under way.
The first medal will be awarded in para-powerlifting.
The Games will conclude on 2 August, with medals being awarded in the likes of netball and cycling, before a closing ceremony.
The 2026 Games will be the 23rd edition of the contest, which was first held in 1930.
Where is the Commonwealth Games being held?
The Games will be held in Glasgow.
It's the second time the city has hosted the competition, having welcomed athletes and fans back in 2014.
Glasgow stepped in when the future of the Games appeared in question following the Australian state of Victoria's decision to pull out of hosting, due to costs.
After months of wrangling, Glasgow was announced as the new hosts of the Games - in a scaled-down version - in September 2024.
Scotland also held the 1970 and 1986 Games, both of which took place in Edinburgh.
What sports will be included at Glasgow 2026?
3x3 basketball is one of the 10 sports selected for the Commonwealth Games [Getty Images]There will be 10 sports included in this year's Games - a drop from 17 in the 2014 edition.
This is a reflection of the more cost-effective approach being taken, with less sports meaning financial savings.
The 10 sports that made the cut are
- Athletics and para-athletics (track and field only)
- Swimming and para-swimming
- Artistic gymnastics
- Track cycling and para-track cycling
- Netball
- Weightlifting and para-powerlifting
- Boxing
- Judo
- Bowls and para-bowls
- 3x3 basketball and 3x3 wheelchair basketball
There was disappointment for the sports that missed out, however.
These included hockey - despite Glasgow having a National Hockey Centre - and all racquet sports.
What venues are being used in Glasgow in 2026?
Four venues will be used for the Commonwealth Games [BBC]Four venues will host the Games.
- Tollcross International Swimming Centre will host swimming and para-swimming.
- Scotstoun Stadium will host athletics and para-athletics.
- The Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome and Arena will host track cycling and para-track cycling.
- The Scottish Event Campus will host the remaining sports, spread across various buildings.
- The city's biggest music venue, the OVO Hydro, will swap gigs for netball and the opening ceremony.
- The SEC Armadillo concert hall will welcome weightlifting and powerlifting.
- 3x3 basketball and 3x3 wheelchair basketball, bowls and para-bowls, boxing and judo will all go ahead at the SEC Centre.
The biggest change from the 2014 event is that athletics - traditionally the biggest draw of the Games - will be held in the much smaller Scotstoun Stadium, as compared to Hampden Park and its capacity of nearly 52,000.
Scotstoun, by contrast, is expected to hold about 11,000 people - even with extra seating in place. Unsurprisingly, the athletics events are likely to be the hottest ticket during the overall competition.
Will there be an opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow?
The 2014 opening ceremony was held at Celtic Park [Getty Images]Yes. Both opening and closing ceremonies are slated to take place during Glasgow 2026.
The OVO Hydro will kick-start the Games n 23 July, with organisers saying it will involve "performances from major international artists, emerging talent and a cast of volunteers".
About 600 volunteers are taking part in total.
The 2014 opening ceremony at Celtic Park featured dancing Tunnock's tea cakes, Rod Stewart and Susan Boyle belting out tunes and unintended comedy when Prince Imran, the Commonwealth Games Federation president, struggled to open the Queen's baton to hand to her.
Speaking of the baton, the King's baton relay is already well under way - Sir Chris Hoy was the first runner, taking it in Port of Spain, in Trinidad and Tobago last March.
Traditionally the relay involves a single baton being transported through all 74 Commonwealth nations and territories - but this year, each team competing was given its own baton to decorate.
It will make its way across more than 50 events in Scotland before reaching the Hydro.
How much are tickets for Glasgow 2026?
The prices vary - considerably.
Organisers have stressed that tickets start at £17 for non-medal sessions and £26 for medal events.
However those are the cheapest categories for prices, and the cost can run into three figures for the most popular sports, like athletics and cycling.
This prompted a number of complaints when the briefs first went on sale, as numerous Glaswegians contacted BBC Scotland News to say pricing was too high.
This is partly due to simple demand - Scotstoun is a relatively small venue and athletics events are a big draw. Therefore the cheap tickets are likely to be snapped up quickly, with the pricier tickets the only ones left.
Tickets for sports with more sessions - such as netball - tend to be priced cheaper and remain available.
Organisers told BBC Scotland News there has been "incredible enthusiasm" and "strong demand" during ticket pre-sales.
A spokeswoman said: "It's clear there's a huge amount of passion and excitement about the Games returning to Glasgow."
Tickets are available via the Games website.
When will my Commonwealth Games tickets arrive?
There is not a set time frame for when people can expect tickets to drop into their inboxes.
Organisers say all tickets will be issued digitally to the buyer's registered email address, either as a PDF download or via a digital wallet.
E-tickets for many major sporting events or concerts often arrive just days before it actually takes place, so the Games will likely be the same.
How many medals are at the Commonwealth Games?
215 gold medals will be handed out during the Games.
Although scaled back, the largest ever swimming, cycling and 3x3 basketball programmes ever will form part of the Games.
There will also be more Para-sport events than in any other Games.
The medals are inspired by the host city and feature an inclusive design that uses braille.
Award-winning artist and designer Militsa Milenkova created the medals, which weave the Finnieston Crane and Glasgow's industrial heritage into them, along with the city's coat of arms.
Who's taking part in the Commonwealth Games?
[Getty Images]There will be 74 nations competing - that is an increase of two on the 2022 number, with Gabon and Togo joining the party.
Each country will have varying sizes of delegations. At Birmingham in 2022 this ranged from England with 438 athletes to Montserrat with just five participants. Scotland sent 254 representatives that year.
Those numbers will be down considerably in Glasgow due to far less sports being on offer, but plenty of athletes will be dreaming of glory.
Runner Jake Wightman - a World Championship silver medallist - will take part in the Commonwealth Mile, as the event makes a return for the first time since 1966 in place of the 1500m.
Megan Keith will make her Commonwealth Games debut in the 10,000m and Neil Gourley has been selected for the Commonwealth Mile alongside Wightman - he says he will be there even if he has to crawl around the track.
Sarah Adlington, the first athlete to win two Commonwealth Games gold medals in judo, is seeking a fairytale ending to her career with a third gold.
In the pool Duncan Scott and Angharad Evans will lead the way alongside three other 2024 Olympians - Katie Shanahan, Keanna MacInnes and Lucy Hope.
Away from Scotland, five-time Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah will defend her Commonwealth 100m and 200m titles at Glasgow 2026.
English Olympic gold medallist Adam Ramsay-Peaty will make his fourth appearance at the Games and 2020 Olympic Games champion Tom Dean is in the squad too.
Two big names who won't be there are cyclists Jack Carlin and Katie Archibald. He announced his retirement from the sport in October 2025, weeks after saying he was looking forward to 2026, while Archibald announced her own retirement earlier this year.
Athletics superstar Keely Hodgkinson will also not be there, having chosen to focus on the upcoming European Championships instead.
How to watch the Commonwealth Games?
The Games has a new broadcast partner this year.
Subscription channel TNT Sports outbid the BBC, which had been the main partner and provided free-to-air coverage since 1954 for 18 games in a row.
TNT Sports said every event will be streamed via the HBO Max platform and it would show more than 600 hours of live coverage in a "re-imagining" of the event.
The BBC said it was "unable to match" TNT's bid to screen the games.
It means people interested in watching the competition live will have to stump up a subscription fee to TNT, with £4.99 the starting price for packages that include adverts. More expensive packages offer advert-free viewing.
There will be some free to air coverage though. Channel 5 will air a daily highlights programme for each day of the games.
BBC ALBA has also signed a deal to bring viewers live sporting action and highlights every evening, with programming also available via the BBC iPlayer.
What happened when Glasgow hosted the 2014 Commonwealth Games?
Usain Bolt was one of the star attractions at the 2014 Games [Getty Images]The event was considered a huge success - organisers hailed it as "the standout Games in the history of the movement".
Scotland finished fourth overall in the medal table with a record haul of 19 golds and a best-ever tally of 53 medals.
England topped the table for the first time in 28 years, finishing ahead of Australia and Canada.
Usain Bolt anchored Jamaica to 4x100m relay gold and partied with the crowd, Chad Le Clos stormed to a record equalling seven medals and Nicola Adams took the first ever gold medal in women's boxing.
On the homegrown front the triumphs came often, from swimmer Ross Murdoch snatching 200m breaststroke gold to postman Charlie Flynn taking a memorable lightweight boxing gold.
However it was not not just medals and sporting success that led to acclaim for the event.
The events were well attended and were blessed with mostly sunny and warm weather. A host of other events, such as fanzones and free concerts, took place during the Games and there was a party atmosphere throughout the city.
One of the reasons the Scottish government was cautious about hosting 2026 was concerns over comparisons to the success of 2014.
Who's the mascot for the Commonwealth Games?
The popular thistle Clyde has retired from duties as the Games overall mascot - but will be Team Scotland's own mascot.
The new figurehead for the overall Games is a unicorn named Finnie, who boasts a traffic cone for a horn.
The character made her first official appearance at the city's famous Finnieston Crane and was designed with the help of school children from throughout Glasgow.
Who pulled out of holding the Commonwealth Games?
The Australian state of Victoria was appointed host in 2022, after organisers struggled to find volunteers for a location.
However a year later it dropped out - with premier Daniel Andrew saying the projected cost had tripled and become "well and truly too much" for the state to bear.
Other countries such as Malaysia and Singapore were then mooted as replacements, but declined to show interest.
That led Glasgow to step in, after the Scottish government struck a deal with Australian authorities regarding extra funding.
What's the future of the Commonwealth Games after Glasgow 2026?
The Narendra Modi Stadium could host events at the 2030 Commonwealth Games [Getty Images]After Victoria pulled out, the future of the Games in both 2026 and beyond was murky.
Durban previously abandoned plans to host the 2022 edition, forcing Birmingham to step in, and the sheer cost of the event - at a time when many countries are squeezed financially - meant fewer and fewer countries were interested.
The hope is Glasgow 2026's scaled back programme might offer a blueprint for the future - with less sports and venues making it more affordable for other countries to bid.
Early indications seem promising - the city of Ahmedabad in the west of India has been confirmed to host the centenary Commonwealth Games in 2030, and other countries like Nigeria also bid on the event.
Organisers will be optimistic the future of the Games can be secured for the long-term.