In an evolving world where nations are defining their own identity, the Commonwealth seems like a tenuous link to a colonial past. And the relevance of the Commonwealth Games, which brings together countries that were once part of the British Empire, again came under the scanner when the original hosts of the 2026 edition, the state of Victoria in Australia, pulled out due to rising costs in July 2023.
Glasgow stepped in to host the Games, but lack of time and budget has resulted in a scaled-down edition with only 10 core sports and no athletes’ village.
While the Games may have lost some of its sheen, they may serve as the perfect comeback platform for three of India’s sporting icons: Mirabai Chanu, Lovlina Borgohain and Neeraj Chopra. Tokyo Olympic (2020) medallists Chanu and Borgohain were the flag bearers for the 125-strong Indian contingent during the opening ceremony on 23 July.
Back to Best
Champion in 2018, forced out due to injury in 2022, Chopra returns to 2026 CWG hoping to strike form.
Over the last few years, the javelin star has delivered consistently on the world stage. From August 2021 to August 2025, Chopra had flatlined at excellence, finishing no lower than second in every meet he competed in. During that glorious period, he captured a gold medal at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, a World Championship gold in 2023 and a Diamond League final triumph in 2022.
For the last few months, however, the Indian star has shown signs of vulnerability, stemming mainly from a chronic back injury. At the 2025 World Championships, Chopra settled for eighth position, his lowest finish in over a decade.
This season, he has only competed in the Doha Diamond League so far, and finished a disappointing fourth with the best throw of 85.69m.
Men’s javelin is set to be one of the most competitive disciplines at CWG. The 28-year-old faces a stern test with Pakistan’s reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem, Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, who has the season’s best throw of 92.62m, two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada, Kenya’s former Olympic silver medallist Julius Yego, and former Olympic and world champion Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago in the running.
At the 2022 CWG, India’s track and field contingent reaped a total of eight medals. Returning for more medal glory are Murali Sreeshankar (men’s long jump), Tejaswin Shankar (men’s high jump, men’s decathlon) and Priyanka Goswami (women’s 10,000m walk).
While Chopra remains the poster boy, Indian athletics is undergoing a significant shift. Multiple national records have fallen in 2026, including the 48-year-old mark in men’s marathon.
Ancy Sojan rewrote history books with a long jump of 6.88m, breaking Anju Bobby George’s 6.83m-mark set in August 2004. Gulveer Singh recorded India’s first sub-hour half-marathon, while Gurindervir Singh reset the 100m benchmark by clocking 10.09 in May 2026. As India’s ambitions grow in track and field, CWG may provide the ideal gauge.
“If you take a performance index of Indian athletics this year, it’s probably the best ever we have seen in any season so far,” said Sreeshankar during a group interaction on 21 July.
“Also, Sarvesh Kushare’s 2.31m (high jump national record set in June) is world standard and Rohit (Yadav) did 87+m. All these events, all these performances have shown what we are capable of. The last piece of the puzzle is emulating that at global championships.”
Cut to the Chase
Four years ago, India had finished fourth on the leaderboard with 61 medals. That performance will probably not be replicated since three of the four sports in which India topped the medal tally, wrestling, badminton and table tennis, have been dropped. Weightlifting is the only one that remains.
One of India’s medal treasure troves, shooting, was dropped at the 2022 Birmingham Games itself, while hockey, squash and women’s cricket also joined the scrapheap this time around. India will compete in a total of 13 disciplines, including para games, at CWG 2026.
Winning a medal on the international stage is never easy. But Chanu has made it look so in the last two CWG editions. Asian powerhouses like China, North Korea and South Korea are not part of the Commonwealth, tilting the scales in Chanu’s favour, but the Indian weightlifter has glided in and decimated existing competition.
In 2018, she lifted a total of 196kg, 26kg more than her closest competitor, to win gold in the 48kg category with a Games record. Four years later, she lifted a total of 201kg to rewrite the Games record in the 49kg category. Mauritius’ Roilya Ranaivosoa, who won the silver, lifted 172kg.
Set back by thigh, wrist and shoulder injuries in recent times, Chanu has shown glimpses of a comeback in the last few months. She took a break after finishing fourth at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but returned strong, winning a silver at the 2025 World Championships in Forde, Norway in October. Though she has competed sparingly in the last two years, Chanu began 2026 by setting three new national records in 48kg category, the same weight class she will compete in at CWG. Chanu once again leads a strong squad, with 12 Indian weightlifters, including seven women, making the cut for Glasgow.
In the last few years, India has emerged as a rising power in women’s boxing. And for CWG 2026, the federation has named a young team packed with potential. It includes World champion Jasmine Lamboria (57kg), Asian boxing champions Preeti Pawar (54kg) and Priya Ghanghas (60kg). Sakshi Chaudhary made the cut in 51kg.
Even as new faces and fresh talent are taking over women’s boxing in India, Borgohain remains an enduring presence. Since winning the bronze in 69kg at the Tokyo Games, the Assamese boxer has captured a World Championship gold in 2023 and a silver at the deferred 2022 Asian Games.
However, it has been a mixed bag of results for Borgohain, as she went down in the quarterfinals at 2022 CWG and the Round of 16 at 2025 world championships. Though the 28-year-old is the undisputed No.1 in the 75kg category in the country, she hasn’t punched in a big result on the global stage in the last couple of years.
A CWG medal may just be the boost she’s looking for, and will also help her complete the medal haul at multi-sport events, having finished on the podium in Tokyo and earning a silver at the 2022 Asian Games. Big gains for a low-key CWG.
Deepti Patwardhan is a sportswriter based in Mumbai.