It is fondly remembered as the biggest festival of sport ever to be hold in Scotland’s biggest city.
Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games in 2014 saw hundreds of thousands of spectators flock to 17 sports across the city, with events ranging from cycling to boxing.
Now that the city has been confirmed as the host for the 2026 Games, however, the programme has been stripped down with a ‘scaled back; event on offer.
Here’s a guide to what sports will be on show – and which ones will miss out.
Glasgow 2026 sporting programme:
Ten sports have been selected for the Glasgow 2026 Games. These are:
- Athletics
- Swimming
- Track cycling
- Gymnastics
- Netball
- Weightlifting
- Boxing
- Judo
- Bowls
- 3x3 basketball
There will also be integrated para events in six of those sports - athletics, swimming, track cycling, weightlifting, bowls and basketball.
The programme for 2026 is much reduced from that of a decade ago. Back then, 17 sports were on show:
- Aquatics (Diving, Swimming)
- Athletics;
- Badminton;
- Boxing;
- Cycling (Mountain Bike, Road, Track),
- Gymnastics (Artistic, Rhythmic);
- Hockey
- Judo
- Lawn Bowls
- Netball
- Rugby Sevens
- Shooting,
- Squash
- Table Tennis
- Triathlon
- Weightlifting
- Wrestling.
![No big splash for diving in 2026]()
No big splash for diving in 2026 (Image: PA) So what’s missing out?
There are some big departures from what was on show in 2014. No Marathon will be held, while road cycling has also been axed.
Hockey, a popular sport in many Commonwealth countries, has also been a surprise omission, as is badminton.
Other sports which won’t be featured are diving, Rugby Sevens (so no All Blacks), lawn bowls, wrestling, table tennis or squash.
There will also be no shooting events, though this proved difficult to stage last time given Scotland’s strict gun laws.
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Commonwealth Games Scotland chairman Ian Reid said it was not easy to decide which sports to include.
He told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “I think everybody recognises that these events need to be more affordable, lighter and we would have loved to have all of our sports and all of our athletes competing but unfortunately it’s just not deliverable or affordable for this time frame.”
CGF chief executive Katie Sadleir said that the stripped-back Glasgow 2026 may provide a template for future Commonwealth Games.
She said: “The 2026 Games will be a bridge to the Commonwealth Games of tomorrow – an exciting first step in our journey to reset and redefine the Games as a truly collaborative, flexible and sustainable model for the future that minimises costs, reduces the environmental footprint, and enhances social impact – in doing so increasing the scope of countries capable of hosting.”
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