Glasgow will host scaled down Commonwealth Games in 2026

Some of Australia’s favourite sports, including hockey and road cycling, are expected to be axed from the scaled back 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

While Scottish officials are yet to publicly reveal the full details around the Games, with planning still “in development,” the dates and venues have been decided and leaks have included clues about which sports will be kept or dropped to save money.

The Games will take place over 11 days from July 23-August 2, 2026, at just four multipurpose venues – the Commonwealth Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, the Scotstoun Stadium, Tollcross International Swimming Centre and the Scottish Events Campus.

Only 10 sports – integrating para competition – will make the cut for Glasgow, which stepped in to save the “friendly games“ after the Victorian Government pulled out as hosts.

Ten is just over half the 19 sports that were on the Birmingham 2022 program.

Swimming and athletics were the only sports that were given guarantees for Glasgow.

However, it’s now known that track cycling has also been given the green light, but not road cycling, after a report to the Glasgow City Council stated: “competition would be contained within the venue footprint, with no road-based events.”

That means road athletics events, such as the marathon and the walking races, will also be left off the program, while the ruling seems to spell disaster for triathlon.

The report also said there will be no new athletes’ village built for the Games, with competitors and officials staying in “existing accommodation across the city.”

“The concept is based on a significantly reduced budget, timeline and scale of event, therefore the approach and experience will be different to previous Commonwealth Games,” the report said.

Hockey — which Australia has dominated since the sport’s inclusion at the Games in 1998 – won’t be among the 10 sports, with an official announcement expected in the coming days.

Hockey Australia was hopeful the sport would be included when Glasgow said they would use existing infrastructure, but the absence of the National Hockey Centre on the list of venues does not bode well.

Hockey’s exclusion would be a huge blow for the sport, given the Commonwealth Games is a key lead-up event ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

The news comes on the back of a disappointing Paris Olympic campaign, where the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos were both eliminated in the quarter-finals.

The Hockeyroos had their full funding restored after Paris, rejoining the men as teams considered likely to contribute to the country’s high performance targets.

It’s not clear if being left off the Commonwealth Games program will impact future funding.

The expected decision to drop hockey is considered surprising, given the popularity of hockey in the Commonwealth’s biggest market – India – which has claimed six medals in the sport.

England has itself won 11 medals in hockey, including gold in the women’s final at Birmingham, but the Aussies are the real powerhouse nation, winning 11 of the 14 golds ever contested.

GLASGOW SAVES COMMONWEALTH GAMES
A new location has been announced for the 2026 Commonwealth Games one year after the state of Victoria announced it would no longer host the major sporting event.

The Scottish Government has agreed to host the Games in Glasgow*, the country’s most populous* city.

Victorian premier Dan Andrews made headlines in July last year when he announced the state was backing out of its agreement to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games in regional Victoria due to cost blowouts*.

At the time, Mr Andrews said that $2.6 billion had originally* been put aside for the Games, but the cost had then risen to more than $6 billion.

In August, the Gold Coast entered a bid to “rescue” the Commonwealth Games and host it there, but this was rejected by the state and federal governments, who said Queensland should focus on preparing for its 2032 Olympic hosting duties instead.

The future of the Commonwealth Games has remained in limbo* until Wednesday’s announcement. The decision to host the Games in Glasgow is sure to come as a welcome relief for the thousands of athletes across Commonwealth countries who compete in the event as a mid-cycle checkpoint* on the way to an Olympic Games.

However, not all sports will make the cut.

Glasgow will produce a scaled-down* version of the Games. Only 10 sports will be included in competition, much less than the 20 envisaged* for the Victorian Games, and existing venues within the city will be used – some of which will be from the last Commonwealth Games hosted there in 2014.

And while Australia will no longer host the Games, it still has to help pay for them.

The Australian Commonwealth Games Federation has pledged an additional $4.5 million as part of the Glasgow deal. That was on top of the $380 million payout fee* the Victorian government paid to abandon the Games – meaning Australia has all but paid for the Games to take place in a foreign country on the other side of the world.

The big question for anxious athletes will now be: will their sports survive the cull* to be part of Glasgow 2026?

Swimming and athletics are the only two sports guaranteed to be on the start line.

Hockey Australia (HA) boss David Pryles was pleased to hear news of the Games rescue and was hopeful hockey would be among the 10 sports on the schedule.

Australian men’s hockey team the Kookaburras have won all seven gold medals since the sport was added in 1998, while women’s team the Hockeyroos have claimed five titles, although did suffer a shock loss to England in the Birmingham final two years ago.

Mr Pryles said HA was yet to have any discussions with the Commonwealth Games Federation or world hockey’s peak body FIH about whether hockey would be included in Glasgow.

“We would love for the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras to represent Australia in Glasgow – we have such a proud history in Commonwealth Games sport,” Mr Pryles said.

“It is an important event for our players in the Olympic cycle as it gives them important tournament experience leading into the LA Olympics.”

Commonwealth Games Australia president Ben Houston acknowledged the scaled down program would impact several CGA member sports.

But he also applauded* Scotland for rescuing the Games.

“This is a fantastic outcome for the Commonwealth sport movement,” Mr Houston said.

“The Commonwealth Games are at the heart of Australia’s performance pathway, often providing the launch pad* for continued and ongoing success by Australian athletes,” Mr Houston said.

“They are irreplaceable in terms of providing global competition and, in the absence* of an Australian host, it was in the interests of Australian sport that we make an overseas Games a reality.”

GLOSSARY

• Glasgow: a port city on the River Clyde in west central Scotland, famous for its Victorian architecture. Glasgow is the most populous city in Scotland and the third most populous city in the UK
• populous: full of people, having a large population
• cost blowouts: sudden increases in price
• originally: in the beginning
• in limbo: in an uncertain or unknown state
• mid-cycle checkpoint: a way athletes can test their performance during a training cycle
• scaled-down: cheaper and smaller
• envisaged: dreamt about or planned for
• payout fee: money that you must pay if you back out of a deal
• cull: the final list of sports after the cutback
• applauded: clapped his hands, said ‘well done’, etc.
• launch pad: something used to propel you to the next stage in your career
• absence: when something is missing

EXTRA READING

Victoria cancels the 2026 Commonwealth Games

Going for Goldy in 2026 Games

Paris bids ‘au revoir’ to Olympics

QUICK QUIZ

1. Which Scottish city will now host the 2026 Commonwealth Games?
2. Why did Victoria back out of its hosting commitment?
3. How much will it cost Australia for Glasgow to host the Games?
4. How many sports will be included in the 2026 Games?
5. Which two sports are guaranteed to be included?

LISTEN TO THE UPDATE

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Which sports?
Which 10 sports do you think should be in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games? List the sports. Next to each sport, write sentences explaining why this sport should be included.

Time: allow at least 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education

2. Extension
Why are events like the Commonwealth Games so expensive to run? Brainstorm a list of reasons why.

Time: allow at least 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education

VCOP ACTIVITY
I’ve always wanted to know
If you had the opportunity to talk to one of our Commonwealth Games or Olympic athletes and ask them five questions, what would you ask them?

Come up with five different questions. Challenge yourself to use different question stems (question openers words) to write your questions, and don’t forget to end with a question mark.

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