Why India may not witness a medal rush at 2026 Commonwealth Games

After FIFA fever comes the Commonwealth Games. Indian athletes have made their way to Glasgow for the tournament that runs from today (July 23) until August 2. A total of 77 men and 48 women, including para athletes, from India are heading to Scotland with the hopes of scoring a podium position.

The country has been one of the top nations in the medal standings at this multi-sports event. In 2022, the country bagged 61 medals — 22 gold, 16 silver and 23 bronze. In fact, India’s total medal haul at the Games since its inception has been 564 medals —203 gold, 190 silver and 171 bronze medals. And many sports enthusiasts hope for another huge medal haul.

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However, this Commonwealth Games may not give India a chance to build on its medal tally, due to fewer sports featuring in the event.

We explain what’s going on and why.

A truncated Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games in Glasgow is a severely scaled-down version with only 10 sports on the roster, cutting down from 19 sports in the 2022 Birmingham edition. The 10 sports in Glasgow are athletics, swimming, track cycling, weightlifting, 3x3 basketball, lawn bowls, netball, artistic gymnastics, judo and boxing.

The sports excluded this time are badminton, cricket, hockey, squash, table tennis, triathlon, wrestling, beach volleyball and rugby sevens.

But why?

The simple answer is economics. Initially, the 2026 Commonwealth Games were to be held in Victoria, Australia. However, three years before the event, Victoria pulled out of hosting the Games, citing escalating costs.

This led many to question the relevance of the Games, with some even claiming it to be extinct.

That’s when Glasgow stepped in. But they noted that they didn’t have enough time to prep for a full-scale event and hence suggested a leaner, shorter and truncated version of the Games.

Moreover, the 10 sports will be spread across just four venues, all within a 12-kilometre corridor in central Glasgow to save money. Also, the athletes and support staff will stay in hotels rather than an athletes’ village. The opening and closing ceremonies will also be smaller.

At the time, George Black, Chair, Glasgow 2026, and Phil Batty, Chief Executive Officer, noted: “Glasgow 2026 is being realised with £150 million of investment. The competition is being entirely privately funded. A self-sustaining, ground-breaking Games delivery model.”

Commonwealth Games medals are displayed ahead of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games. AFP

India’s medal chances affected

Owing to the Glasgow Games being truncated, India’s chances of medals have also reduced significantly.

For instance, badminton has been dropped from the Games. In the last edition, India earned six medals in the sport, including the golds earned by Lakshya Sen and PV Sindhu.

Wrestling, which gave India 12 medals in 2022, is also not included in this edition of the tournament.

Gold medallist India's Lakshya Sen poses during the medal presentation ceremony for the men's singles gold medal badminton match of the Commonwealth Games in 2022. This time, badminton has been left out of the Games. FIle image/AFP

The Commonwealth Games in Glasgow have also dropped table tennis — which accounted for seven medals — as well as hockey and cricket, where India won three medals in total.

In fact, of India’s 61 medals at the 2022 Birmingham Games, 30 came from sports that are not included in Glasgow.

Former India hockey skipper and Olympian Viren Rasquinha said at a sports interaction event that the exclusion of these sports will result in a void. “It's going to be a very different Commonwealth Games, because, for us, a lot of our medal-winning sports are not there. So, it’s 100 per cent going to affect our medal tally.

India’s potential medal winners at the CWG

But India still has several realistic medal prospects.

All eyes are on India’s athletic squad — a 32-member team across 22 disciplines. Neeraj Chopra remains the biggest medal hope in men’s Javelin throw, but he will face tough competition from reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem from Pakistan and the reigning world champion Keshorn Walcott from Trinidad.

India has pinned huge hopes on Neeraj Chopra winning in the men's Javelin event at the CWG in Glasgow. File image/Reuters

Other hopes are pinned on high jumpers Tejaswin Shankar and Sarvesh Kushare, long jumpers Murali Sreeshankar and Lokesh Satyanathan, and triple jumpers Selva Prabhu and Praveen Chithravel.

India can also hope for medals in boxing. Reigning World Champion Jaismine Lamboria and Tokyo Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain are being seen as the favourites in their respective weight categories.

Olympian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu is also being seen as a medal favourite. And she’s not alone; most note that India has bright chances of winning around six-seven medals in weightlifting.

India's Mirabai Chanu Saikhom is also leading the charge for weightlifters at the Commonwealth Games. File image/Reuters

In Judo, Tulika Maan and Asmita Dey are headlining the challenge, with Asmita Dey, Inunganbi Takhellambam and Ishroop Narang providing further medal opportunities as India looks to better its previous haul of three medals in 2022.

India is also expecting at least one medal in the lawn bowls event. In 2022, the country won two medals in this sport, both in the team event. However, this time, there are only singles and doubles events.

While the Glasgow Games are being seen as a huge challenge for India, it also presents an opportunity for the country to rewrite its Commonwealth Games identity.

With inputs from agencies