Meet the Kiwi Commonwealth Games team, with Ellesse Andrews heading the big medal hopes chasing gold in Glasgow

Sunday, 19 July 2026

What: The 23rd Commonwealth Games. Where: Glasgow, Scotland. When: First full day of competition from 7.30pm Friday (NZT), Sky Sport.

When Shannon McIlroy rolls down his first bowl on Thursday night (NZT) at his fifth Commonwealth Games, it will cap a remarkable resurrection for a sporting festival that looked history as recently as two years ago.

McIlroy, women’s pair Katelyn Inch and Selina Goddard, and para mixed pair Kerrin Wheeler and Sonya Woodrow are the first of the 114-strong New Zealand team in action in Glasgow, before Friday morning’s (NZT) opening ceremony kicks off Commonwealth Games ‘lite’: 10 sports across 10 days.

It snuck up fast, since Glasgow was only confirmed as host city in September 2024 with financial backing from the Scottish government, and the Commonwealth Games Federation via $A380 million in compensation from Victoria’s government who abruptly withdrew as host 14 months previous due to cost blowouts.

Four years ago it was a Kiwi bonanza in Birmingham when New Zealand sent a team of 233 and returned home with a record 50 medals - 20 of them gold.

Team chef de mission Nigel Avery told the Sunday Star-Times: “The word is pragmatic for everything that the organising committee’s done, because they've only had a little over a year and a half. And so they've obviously had to make some pretty tough calls on what they do.”

Still, around 3000 athletes from 74 nations or territories are expected, with only a select few from each permitted to march in Friday’s opening ceremony which will be the first one held indoors at the Hydro, as King Charles declares the 23rd Commonwealth Games open.

Just four venues within a 12km radius will host the 10 sports, with Scotstoun Stadium a more modest track and field venue than Hampden Park, the cavernous national stadium which hosted rugby sevens and athletics 12 years ago.

Sevens is among the sports to drop off this time, along with squash (three golds in Birmingham), mountainbiking (one gold), triathlon (one silver), wrestling (two bronze) and road cycling which saw Aaron Gate add a remarkable fourth gold to the three he won on the velodrome. At 35, Gate ruled out a return to defend his titles due to his World Tour commitments.

Birmingham gold medallists who are back include New Zealand’s queen of the velodrome, Ellesse Andrews, who stood atop the dais three times in Birmingham and added two more Olympic golds in Paris.

Andrews, Olivia King and Rebecca Petch - a new mum returning to competitive cycling - will defend their team sprint title and Andrews will be awfully hard to beat in her top events the keirin and sprint (her keirin final highlights the final day of competition, early on Monday August 3).

There’s also Bryony Botha (women’s individual pursuit) defending her title while New Zealand will be competitive in all the cycling endurance events - notably the men’s and women’s pursuit teams.

The first medals are up soon after 6am on Saturday when Lewis Clareburt - who won dual gold in 2022 - contests the 200m medley final while Erika Fairweather is entered for six events and has her premier 400m freestyle final first up. She finished fourth in a stellar Paris Olympic final and will again have to stave off the crack Australian team for gold.

At the track, high jumper Hamish Kerr (Tuesday July 28, 6.10am) and shot putter Tom Walsh (Friday July 31, 6am) defend their titles although Kerr cast doubt over his appearance last week after taking a break from training. The women’s pole vault final (6.08am on Saturday August 1) has two genuine contenders Imogen Ayris (bronze in 2022) and Eliza McCartney although Australian Nina Kennedy is hot favourite for gold.

Weightlifter David Liti won gold on the Gold Coast in 2018 then silver in the 110kg+ division in 2022, and is back to chase another gold early on July 31. Avery was Commonwealth Games champion in that very discipline in Manchester in 2002.

Then there’s the Silver Ferns, whose sport survived the chop and are back under Dame Noeline Taurua after the coaching saga of 2025. Again, Australia will be their toughest to beat for gold.

Said Avery: “Personally, I'm interested to see how netball goes. Let's face it, it hasn't been smooth sailing recently for them. They've got a bit of a steely determination, and I've been chatting to them, and I'm excited to see that play out and just hope that they can all gel together and because they've got a pretty short runway of time together.”

Of the 114 Kiwis, gymnast Sienna Shields is the youngest at 18 while para bowler Julie O’Connell is the oldest at 67. Gymnast Misha Koudinov is at his sixth Commonwealth Games while McIlroy and fellow bowler Ali Forsyth (men’s pair) are both at their fifth.

There’s no athletes’ village but the New Zealand team will be split across three Glasgow hotels. The main one and home base for the Kiwis includes weightlifting, boxing, bowls, judo, netball and 3x3 basketball. All arriving teams will still receive the traditional Kiwi welcome in the coming days.

Avery doesn’t do medal targets and says the Birmingham haul in his first Games at the helm may never be repeated.

“The thing that we've all got to realise is that we're a nation of 5 million people. Of course, we're growing, but there's a point where you can't just keep getting better and better and better.

“We aspire to, but the stars have got to be in alignment, and we've also got to remember that every other nation is trying to do the same thing we are.

“We've got a really good culture, and New Zealand sport is in a really good place at the moment. The goal is to create an environment where we maximize what we can do because that's what we can control, and hope that we get the results.”

New Zealand team for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games

Athletics: Max Attwell, Imogen Ayris, Anthony Barmes, Geordie Beamish, Lauren Bruce, Jacko Gill, Zoe Hobbs, Hamish Kerr, Eliza McCartney, Olivia McTaggart, Tori Moorby, Ethan Olivier, Nick Palmer, James Preston, Nick Southgate, James Steyn, Briana Stephenson, Sam Tanner, Tom Walsh, Maddie Wilson. Para athletics: Anna Grimaldi.

Basketball 3x3: Josh Book, Te Tuhi Lewis, Christian Martin, Aidan Tonge, Azure Anderson, Ella Fotu, Eva Langton, Sharne Robati.

Bowls: Tayla Bruce, Katelyn Inch, Selina Goddard, Shannon Mcilroy, Ali Forsyth, Tony Grantham. Para bowls: Teri Blackbourn, Julie O’Connell, Mark Noble, Kurt Smith, Kerrin Wheeler, Sonya Woodrow.

Boxing: Connor Campbell, Greer Hall, Morgan Henderson, Alex Mukuka, Finbar O’Sullivan, Wendell Stanley, Jordan Wilson.

Cycling: Ellesse Andrews, Olivia King, Rebecca Petch, Sam Dakin, Marshall Erwood, Keegan Hornblow, George Jackson, Nick Kergozou, Daniel Morton, Tom Sexton, Bryony Botha, Samantha Donnelly, Prudence Fowler, Emily Shearman, Ally Wollaston. Para cycling: Devon Briggs, Nicole Murray, Emma Foy.

Gymnastics: Jun McDonald, Courtney McGregor, Sienna Shields, Alex Istock, Misha Koudinov, Daniel Stoddart, William Fu-Allen.

Judo: Moira de Villiers, Noah Walliss, Qona Christie, Kody Andrews, Elliott Connolly, Matthew Rowley, Joel Robinson, Sydnee Andrews.

Netball: Georgia Heffernan, Grace Nweke, Martina Salmon, Amelia Walmsley, Madeline Gordon, Kate Heffernan, Kimiora Poi, Mila Reuelu-Buchanan,Karin Burger, Catherine Hall, Kelly Jackson, Carys Stythe.

Swimming: Erika Fairweather, Lewis Clareburt, Hazel Ouwehand, Zoe Pedersen, Caitlin Deans, Milana Tapper, Eve Thomas, Chelsey Edwards, Cameron Gray, Carter Swift, Amber George, Savannah-Eve Martin. Para swimming: Josh Willmer.

Weightlifting: David Liti, Cameron McTaggart, Marco Mollo, Litia Nacagilevu, Tuʿi-Alofa Patolo, Olivia Selemaia, Georgia Theron.