Track and field athletics is one of 10 sports that will unfold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow but there will be no marathons on the road
A scaled-back program of 10 sports will feature athletics for able-bodied and para-athletes at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. However, road marathons will not occur at the Games as sports like hockey, badminton, cricket, and rugby sevens have also been dropped.
Commonwealth Games marathon winners over the years include Rob de Castella, Lisa Martin, Kerryn McCann, Douglas Wakiihuri, and Ron Hill. But there will be no champions in 2026.
Glasgow to Host 2026 Commonwealth Games After Victoria’s Withdrawal
The Games have moved to Glasgow after the Australian state of Victoria pulled out because of rising costs. Glasgow last held the event in 2014.
3000 athletes from up to 74 Commonwealth nations and territories are expected to compete at the 2026 Games. The 10 sports featured in 2026 were originally due to be 22 if the event had occurred in Australia, though.
Rob de Castella (Mark Shearman)
In addition to athletics, which is due to take place at Scotstoun Stadium, the other sports in 2026 are swimming, basketball, artistic gymnastics, boxing, judo, lawn bowls, netball, track cycling, and weightlifting. As with the marathons, cycling will also lose its road races.
Katie Sadleir, chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), said: “The Games promise to be a truly immersive festival of sport and celebration of culture and diversity that inspires athletes and sports – with a fan experience more accessible than ever before.”
First Minister John Swinney said: “While Glasgow 2026 will look quite different to previous Games, we can, and we must use this as an opportunity to work collaboratively to ensure that this new concept brings a strong and sustainable future for the games.”
The Scottish Secretary Ian Murray called the confirmation a “great example of the UK and Scottish governments working together to deliver for Scotland”, citing the £2.3m put forward by the UK government for security costs.
It was no little incongruity that Glasgow declared it would have a managed down Region Games in 2026 while Lord Charles III was visiting Australia.
Australia is one of just 15 of the Province’s 74 countries domains with the lord as the head of state—over two-thirds of those (36) are republics.
And keeping in mind that inquiries of whether the government is a withering establishment have been generally put to the side in Australia and popped in the too-hard bushel for the present (despite one free congressperson’s protestations), a similar inquiry could be posed of the Games, which are intended to join the Republic.
2026 Commonwealth Games: A Celebration of Athletic Diversity and Opportunity on the World Stage
Are the Games a remnant of a gradually shrinking foundation, or are they a certified open door for the countries of the Province to praise their variety in one place and give the competitors, addressing 2.5 billion individuals, an opportunity to succeed on the world stage?
First, the uplifting news: Glasgow has moved forward, the Games are on, and the practice that started in 1930 proceeds for the present.
Indeed, it will be a decreased Games, yet the competitors in the 10 remaining games—sports, b-ball 3×3, wheelchair ball, track cycling, bowls, boxing, tumbling, judo, netball, swimming, judo, and weightlifting—will have the valuable chance to swagger their stuff on the world stage.
For sports like netball, the Games are the most elevated zenith.
The Games are likewise an opportunity for para-competitors to impart the stage to non-handicapped competitors in sports including para-games, wheelchair b-ball, para-cycling, para-bowls, para-swimming and para-weightlifting.
This is no small thing as it allows para-competitors the opportunity to contend as equivalent members before a crowd of people who could not otherwise experience para-sports.
Glasgow 2026 to boost Scotstoun’s athletics legacy
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