What you need to know about Glasgow Commonwealth Games

28th July 2022: Alexander Stadium, Perry Barr, West Midlands, England; Commonwealth Games 2022, Opening Ceremony: New Zealand enter the stadium during the Team Parade during the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games 2022 — New Zealand enter the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games opening ceremony.

Morning Report — Leonard Powell gauges excitement over Comm Games in Glasgow

Glasgow Commonwealth Games

24 July-3 August (NZT)

Live blog updates on RNZ

Regardless of how you feel about New Zealand’s relationship with the British sovereignty, the Commonwealth Games remain an important part of our sporting landscape.

The latest edition will begin this week at Glasgow, spread over 10 sports and 10 days.

While the Games are often regarded as a second-rate festival, especially compared to the Olympics, some events will still feature some of the best competitors in the world.

The Olympics are undoubtedly the pinnacle for most sports, but the Commonwealth Games fill a crucial role in an athlete’s high performance pathway, often acting as a more realistic stepping stone to bigger and better things.

Here’s what you need to know about the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

History

The Commonwealth Games are scheduled every four years between Olympics, bringing together the nations traditionally under British rule.

Filbert Bayi 1974: Filbert Bayi #813 of Tanzania beats John Walker of New Zealand and Ben Jipcho of Kenya to win the 1500 metres in a new World Record at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, New Zealand. \ Mandatory Credit: Tony Duffy/Allsport — John Walker chases Tanzanian Filbert Bayi to a world 1500m record at Christchurch 1974.Tony Duffy/Allsport/Getty Images

The event began in 1930 as the British Empire Games, changed to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1950, and again to the British Commonwealth Games in 1966.

Since 1978, the multi-sport festival has been known as the Commonwealth Games, also referred to as the ‘Friendly Games’.

The Games few out of the 1911 Inter-Empire Championship, contested by Australasia, Canada, South Africa and the United Kingdom to celebrate the coronation of George V.

The first British Empire Games were staged at Hamilton, Ontario, attended by 11 countries, with 400 athletes across athletics, boxing, bowls, rowing, swimming, diving and wrestling. Women competed only in aquatic events.

Only six countries have attended every Commonwealth Games - New Zealand, Australia, Canada, England, Scotland and Wales - and only the first four have won gold medals at each.

An aerial view of the opening ceremony of the IV British Empire Games at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand, 4th February 1950. (Photo by Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) — Aerial view of the 1950 Auckland Empire Games opening ceremony.Central Press/Getty Images

Nine countries have hosted the Games, with Australia (5), Canada (4), New Zealand (3), England (3) and Scotland (3) doing so more than once.

Auckland and Edinburgh have staged the event twice, while Glasgow will join them in 2026.

Australia has won the most gold medals, topping 1000 at Birmingham 2022, followed by England (773), Canada (510), India (203) and New Zealand (179).

Glasgow 2026

The Games have landed in the Scottish city for the second time in just 12 years, through a comedy of errors and indecision.

Hosting rights for 2022 were originally awarded to Durban, South Africa, but when it was stripped of those rights, due to financial concerns, Birmingham moved its bid ahead four years, leaving 2026 vacant.

Initially, the Australian state of Victoria accepted that responsibility and intended to spread sports across its territory, instead of concentrated on one city. Twelve months late, the state government got cold feet, citing cost escalations, and cancelled the Games.

Several other options were explored, including London, Gold Coast, Malaysia, Singapore and Accra (Ghana), but ultimately, Glasgow took on the hosting role, re-using many of the venues from the 2014 Games.

Braille on a Commonwealth Games medal during a visit by Prince William, Prince of Wales to the Ysgol Gymraeg Llundain (The London Welsh School)on July 7,2026 in London, England. He joined pupils in sending their best wishes to Team Wales ahead of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, taking place from July 23 to August 2, featuring 10 sports and six para-sports. (Photo by Aaron Chown - WPA Pool/Getty Images) (Photo by Aaron Chown - WPA Pool/Getty Images) — Glasgow Commonwealth Games medals will feature braille.WPA Pool/Getty Images

Four years ago, the Birmingham Games featured 20 sports across 15 venues, but Glasgow will feature a cut back programme, consisting of just 10 sports.

Many of those dropped were disciplines where New Zealand had historically succeeded, including rugby sevens, hockey, triathlon, road cycling, cricket and squash.

Surviving sports will also undergo some notable changes - bowls will be contested indoors for the first time, while the men’s and women’s 1500m will revert back to the mile, 60 years after the imperial distance was last raced at the Games.

All 74 Commonwealth nations are expected to attend, with African nations Gabon and Togo making their debuts. Australia and England will field the biggest teams (264), with hosts

Scotland (173), Canada (149), India (124), New Zealand (114), Wales (114) and South Africa (112) sending more than 100 athletes.

The Glasgow opening ceremony is scheduled for 6am Friday, 24 July (NZT) at the OVO Hydro indoor arena, headlined by Scottish singer/songwriter KT Tunstall, and the programme will run until Monday, 3 August.

In New Zealand, events can be viewed on Sky Sport or free-to-air on Three.

NZ at Commonwealth Games

New Zealand is one of only nine nations to attend every edition of the Games and one of only six to win gold medals at each.

It has won 706 medals over the 23 instalments, consisting of 179 gold, 232 silver and 296 bronze. It ranks fourth in total medals and fifth in gold.

Athletics has been our most successful sport, producing 142 medals and 39 gold, ahead of cycling (131/35) and swimming (94/24).

Shooter Greg Yelavich won 12 medals across six games from 1986-2010, while thrower Val Young won five gold medals in shot put and discus, more than any other Kiwi.

New Zealand cyclist Aaron Gate wins the road race at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. — Aaron Gate’s Birmingham road race victory is part of New Zealand’s fine cycling tradition.PHOTOSPORT

New Zealand’s most successful event in terms of medals is the men’s cycling road race, which has produced four gold, nine silver and four bronze. The men’s 1500m/mile has yielded three gold, four silver and five bronze.

Women’s shot put and cycling individual pursuit, and men’s sevens have produced five gold medals each.

New Zealand has hosted the Games three times - Auckland 1950, Christchurch 1974 and Auckland 1990, and our biggest medal haul came at Auckland 1990, when we won 58 medals and 17 gold.

New Zealand at Glasgow

New Zealand has named a team of 114 for Glasgow 2026, consisting of 21 athletes, 19 cyclists, 13 swimmers, 12 bowlers, eight judokas, seven boxers, weightlifters and gymnasts, netball, and men’s and women’s 3x3 basketball.

This is the smallest NZ team since Brisbane 1982, when we sent 112, and less than half the size of the team that attended Birmingham 2022.

The Glasgow team features 44 athletes that competed at Birmingham four years ago. Chef de mission Nigel Avery is a former Commonwealth Games weightlifting champion.

Medal contenders in each sport include:

Athletics

Geordie Beamish - reigning world steeplechase champion and former world indoor 1500m champion

Anna Grimaldi - three-time Paralympic gold medallist in long jump and 200m

Imogen Ayris - 2022 pole vault bronze medallist and world indoor bronze medallist

Hamish Kerr of New Zealand celebrates winning the Men’s High Jump final at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. — Hamish Kerr celebrates his world high jump title.www.photosport.nz

Hamish Kerr - Reigning Olympic, world, world indoor and Commonwealth Games high jump champion

Eliza McCartney - former Olympic pole vault bronze medallist, world indoor and Commonwealth Games silver medallist

Ethan Olivier - Reigning world junior triple jump champion

Silver medalist Jacko Gill of New Zealand and Gold medalist Tom Walsh of New Zealand celebrate after the Men’s Shot Put Final at Alexander Stadium, Birmingham, England on Friday 5 August 2022. Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. © Photo: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz — Jacko Gill and Tom Walsh captured shot put silver and gold at Birmingham.Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz

Tom Walsh - Twice Commonwealth Games shot put champion, former world champion and four-time world indoor champion

3x3 Basketball

Men (Josh Book, Te Tuhi Lewis, Christian Martin & Aidan Tonge) - Reigning Asia Cup champions

Track cycling

Ellesse Andrews - Defending Commonwealth Games sprint, team sprint and keirin champion, reigning Olympic sprint and keirin champion

Devon Briggs - Two-time world para-cycling time trial and scratch race champion

Tom Sexton - Reigning Commonwealth Games team pursuit champion, 2022 individual pursuit silver medallist

Bryony Botha - Former world omnium and elimination race champion, 2024 Olympic team pursuit silver medallist and omnium bronze medallist

New Zealand’s Nicole Shields, New Zealand’s Emily Shearman, New Zealand’s Bryony Botha and New Zealand’s Ally Wollaston compete in a women’s track cycling team pursuit first round of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines National Velodrome in Montigny-le-Bretonneux, south-west of Paris, on August 7, 2024. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP) — The NZ women’s team pursuit took silver at the Paris Olympics.AFP/SEBASTIEN BOZON

Emily Shearman - Olympic, Commonwealth Games and world team pursuit silver medallist

Judo

Kody Andrews - 2022 Commonwealth Games +100kg silver medallist

Moira de Villiers - Eight-time Oceania champion, 2022 Commonwealth Games 78k bronze medallist, 2014 Glasgow 70kg silver medallist

Sydnee Andrews - 2022 Commonwealth Games +78kg bronze medallist

Bowls

Shannon McIlroy - Former world singles and team champion

Ali Forsyth - Three-time world fours and team champion

Mark Noble - Two-time Commonwealth Games parasport triples silver medallist

Tayla Bruce - Former world singles and team champion, 2022 Commonwealth Games fours and triples bronze medallist

Katelyn Inch - Former world team champion, 2022 Commonwealth Games pairs bronze medallist

Katelyn Inch of New Zealand during the Trans Tasman Bowls Competition at Naenae Bowling Club, Wellington, New Zealand on Sunday 4 February 2024. Mandatory credit: Elias Rodriguez / www.photosport.nz — Katelyn Inch will try to improve on her Birmingham pairs bronze medal.Elias Rodriguez/Photosport

Selina Goddard - Former world team champion, three-time Commonwealth Games bronze medallist

Netball

Silver Ferns - Two-time Commonwealth Games champions, three-time silver medallists and 2022 bronze medallists, five-time world champions

Swimming

Lewis Clareburt - Defending Commonwealth Games 200m butterfly and 400m medley champion, former world 400m medley champion

Lewis Clareburt 200m Individual Medley semifinals Tokyo Aquatics Centre, Tokyo, Japan, Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Thursday 29 July 2021. — Lewis Clareburt captured double gold at Birmingham.Photosport Ltd 2021

Erika Fairweather - Former world 400m freestyle champion, 200m freestyle silver medallist

Cameron Gray - 2022 Commonwealth Games 50m butterfly bronze medallist

Josh Willmer - Reigning Commonwealth Games para-swimming 100m breaststroke champion

Weightlifting

David Liti - Former Commonwealth Games +105kg champion, 2022 +109kg silver medallist, four-time Oceania champion

David Liti of New Zealand at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. — David Liti took weightlifting silver at the Birmingham Games.PHOTOSPORT