India finished fourth at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, which concluded last week on August 2, with 39 medals — 13 gold, 17 silver and nine bronze. The result came despite the absence of several sports disciplines that have historically supplied the bulk of India’s Commonwealth haul, marking another chapter in a medal history that has grown from one medal in 1934 to 603 across editions.

India’s Commonwealth success has long been concentrated in a handful of sports. Shooting, wrestling and weightlifting alone account for 390 of India’s 603 medals, roughly two-thirds of the total. While boxing, badminton, and table tennis have added another 113.

Shooting, wrestling, badminton, table tennis and hockey, all important contributors to India’s past medal tallies, were absent. Glasgow hosted a pared-down programme of 10 sports after the Commonwealth Games was forced to find a replacement host following Victoria’s withdrawal. The 2026 programme included athletics, swimming, track cycling, weightlifting, 3×3 basketball, lawn bowls, netball, artistic gymnastics and judo and boxing, alongside para events.

Even without many of its traditional medal-producing sports, India still finished fourth.

A brief history

India’s Commonwealth journey began in London in 1934, when wrestler Rashid Anwar won India’s first medal, a bronze in the 74kg freestyle category and a 12th-place finish. India missed the 1930, 1950, 1962, 1986 editions, won no medals in 1938 and remained unranked in 1954. Its first gold medals came in 1958, when Milkha Singh won the 440-yard race and wrestler Lila Ram triumphed in the 100kg category, and Lachmi Kant Pandey won a silver.

The tally steadily grew, reaching 10 medals in 1966, 12 in 1970 and 15 in 1974, when India finished sixth each time. By 1990, it had risen to 32 medals and fifth place.

Women gradually became a larger part of India’s medal haul. Their first Commonwealth medal came in 1978, when badminton players Ami Ghia and Kanwal Thakar Singh won bronze in the women’s doubles at Edmonton. India then won two women’s medals in 1994 and three in 1998.

The breakthrough came in 2002, when the tricolour began to rise on the Commonwealth stage. India crossed the 50-medal mark for the first time, winning 69 medals and finishing fourth. It followed that with 50 medals and another fourth-place finish in 2006. Then came its greatest Commonwealth campaign at Delhi 2010, where India won a record 101 medals — 64 by men, 36 by women and one in a mixed event — finishing second.

In Glasgow 2026, India won 39 medals and women accounted for 41% of India’s tally.

The longer-term trend puts Glasgow in perspective. India accounted for just 0.5% of all medals awarded in 1934, when it won its first Commonwealth medal. Its share crossed 5% for the first time in 1990, when it won 32 of the 638 medals awarded. The share rose sharply from 2002 onwards, reaching 7.7% in 2002 and 6.7% in 2006. At the Delhi 2010 Games, India reached its peak, winning 101 of the 828 medals awarded —12.2% of the total. Its share remained above 7% in 2014 and 2018, at 7.8% and 7.9%, respectively, before falling to 7% in Birmingham in 2022.

In Glasgow, India won 39 of the 671 medals awarded, accounting for 5.8%. This was its lowest medal haul since 1958, when it won three medals. However, the smaller programme and the absence of several sports in which India has historically performed strongly make direct comparisons with earlier editions difficult. Overall, India won 603 of the 10,636 medals awarded across the editions in the editions India participated, accounting for 5.7% of the total.

Australia back on top

Australia finished first in Glasgow, returning to the top of the Commonwealth medal table after England topped the standings at Birmingham in 2022.

Australia’s dominance is also striking when viewed against India’s much larger population. It has accumulated 2,773 Commonwealth medals, compared with India’s 603, despite having a population of roughly 28 million against India’s 1.46 billion. Canada has won 1,709 medals with a population of about 41.7 million, while New Zealand has won 743 medals with just 5.3 million people.

The comparison is not intended as a medals-per-capita ranking — the countries have competed in different circumstances and across different numbers of Games — but it highlights the very different sporting systems behind their Commonwealth records. Australia has consistently converted a much smaller population into a far larger medal haul, as children have access to many sports, usually experimenting with multiple sports before finding their specialisation. Its nation-wide ‘Little Athletics’ is their initial introduction to athletics, equipped with experienced coaches, who are unrestricted by bureaucratic central bodies. Australian athletes aren’t pushed to perform young, and many gain experience in American colleges before competing officially. In contrast, India’s medals have historically been concentrated in a relatively narrow group of sports.

(With inputs from Sachin Swaraj who is interning with The Hindu’s Data Team. Gauri Singavarapu is also an intern with the team.)

Published – August 12, 2026 07:00 am IST

Boxing gold medallist Sachin Siwach.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Indian discus thrower Seema Kaliramna clinched a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games 2026. Credit: X/ @Media_SAI

Indian javelin throw superstar Neeraj Chopra. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

Gulveer Singh, of India, crosses the finish line to win the silver medal in the men’s 10,000 meters final at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on July 28, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP

Victoria’s decision to pull out of hosting the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in July 2023, citing unsustainable costs, plunged the multi-sport event into uncertainty.

There were fears that the 2026 Games might not be held at all. For nearly a year, the search for a replacement host went on.

Gold Coast, the 2018 host, along with Singapore and Malaysia, figured prominently before Glasgow officially stepped up to host the event in September 2024, returning after its successful staging of the 2014 Games.

Realising the spiralling organising costs, Glasgow tactfully cut the number of disciplines to 10 across four venues, a considerable reduction from Birmingham 2022 where 19 sports were staged across 15 venues. In many ways, the Glasgow Games beginning on July 23 can be credited with saving the Games from losing its relevance.

Describing it as the ‘Reimagined Games’, George Black, Chair, and Phil Batty, Chief Executive Officer, Glasgow 2026, wrote: “Glasgow 2026 is being realised with 150 million pounds of investment. The competition is being entirely privately funded. A self-sustaining, ground-breaking Games delivery model.”

It might be a scaled-down Games, but make no mistake there will be no shortage of star power, including Olympic medallists, world champions and reigning CWG title-holders.

Leading India’s charge will be Tokyo Olympics gold medallist and former world champion Neeraj Chopra in the men’s javelin. The Indian ace will be challenged by Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, the Paris Olympic champion and defending CWG titlist.

The athletics arena will be headlined by Scotland’s reigning world mile record holder Josh Kerr, and England’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson, the 2023 world champion and Paris Olympics silver medallist in the heptathlon.

Jamaica’s Danielle Williams, the 2023 world champion in the women’s 100m hurdles, and Kenya’s Faith Cherotich, the Paris Olympics bronze medallist in the women’s 3000m steeplechase, are among the biggest names set to light up Glasgow.

India’s medal hopes in athletics will rest on Avinash Sable (3000m steeplechase), Tejaswin Shankar (decathlon), M. Sreeshankar (long jump), Abdulla Aboobacker (triple jump), Parul Chaudhary (5000m and 10,000m), Jyothi Yarraji (100m hurdles) and Annu Rani (women’s javelin throw). Will Indian athletes be able to overhaul their 2022 medal tally of eight or surpass their best medal haul of 12 from the 2010 home CWG?

A sizeable share of India’s medals will also come from boxing and weightlifting. At Birmingham, Indian boxers won seven medals while the weightlifters returned with 10.

In the boxing ring, Lovlina Borgohain, the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist, will be looking for her maiden CWG medal. The others to keep an eye on are Jaismine Lamboria (57kg) and Sachin Siwach (60kg).

In weightlifting, Mirabai Chanu (48kg) will be aiming to complete a historic hat-trick of CWG gold medals. Harjinder Kaur (71kg), Vikas Thakur (89kg), Bindyarani Devi (58kg), Gyaneshwari Yadav (53kg) and S. Sanjana (63kg) are among India’s other leading medal hopes.

Transforming fortunes

The Games had transformed the fortunes of several Indian sportspersons in ways even they scarcely could have imagined. Sharath Kamal, Mirabai and Manika Batra are among the finest examples.

Will the ‘Reimagined Games’ produce a few more young Indian stars?

Published – July 22, 2026 10:47 pm IST

Leaving no stone unturned: Sreeshankar has been training in Spała, Poland, for the past three weeks to acclimatise to the weather conditions expected in Glasgow.
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO: RITU RAJ KONWAR

Strong opinion: Gopi Chand believes there was no need to change the 21-point format to the new 3×15 scoring system.
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO: K. MURALI KUMAR

Even as cut-throat competition gives elite athletics meets an elevated status, tales of camaraderie pleasantly break the monotony by adding a human element to them.

Enduring visuals of Mutaz Essa Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi sharing the men’s high jump gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Belgian steeplechaser Tim Van de Velde sacrificing his own position to help Colombia’s Carlos San Martin finish the race at the 2025 World Athletics Championships, and Robson De Oliveira and Aaron Beggs carrying an exhausted Ajay Haridasse over the line at this year’s Boston Marathon evoked impromptu appreciation from spectators in recent times.

Tight contests, tight bonds

However, such instances are not restricted to international athletics alone. Top-level competitions in India have also seen fine examples of keen contests and close companionship. The recently held Federation meet at Birsa Munda Stadium, Morabadi, Ranchi, featured high-level performances as well as excellent displays of comradeship among athletes.

The close duel between female long jumpers Ancy Sojan and Shaili Singh, the intense rivalry between national record holder Gurindervir Singh and Animesh Kujur in the men’s 100m, and the battle of one-upmanship between training partners and eventual joint national record holders Dev Meena and Kuldeep Kumar in the men’s pole vault do not necessarily mean they are bitter opponents off the field. Rather, they offer exceptional case studies of bonding between athletes.

For Ancy, who wholeheartedly cheered for her closest competitor Shaili in the background prior to the latter’s attempts, rivalry is not equivalent to enmity.

“I don’t consider my competitors as enemies. I just see them as friends. I always cheer for them. Because they are focused, they also try hard. So I wanted to motivate Shaili and help her do her best. That’s why I cheer for her. It is a good thing to cheer for your rivals,” says Ancy, who won the event.

Gurindervir is delighted that his mouthwatering showdowns on the track with Kujur, which are built on a strong foundation of brotherhood, bring eyeballs to athletics.

“I have been waiting for this for a long time. Our sport, sprinting, and athletics should get visibility. Every person enjoys watching a rivalry. When Animesh runs well, I feel that I have to run better. I have to do more hard training. When I run well, Animesh feels that he has to train even harder. We get motivation from each other,” says Gurindervir, who became the first Indian to go below 10.10 seconds when he won gold.

“We are good friends. We are room-mates. We are brothers. We are competitors. When we train, we are training partners. When we go out, we are friends.”

Gurindervir’s coach James Hillier feels such healthy competition — the national record changed hands twice in the semifinals before Gurindervir’s historic 10.09s run in the final — augurs well for sprinting in the country.

“It’s a great rivalry, and in a way it probably helped Gurindervir that Animesh broke the record [10.17] in the semifinals [clocking 10.15 within minutes of Gurindervir breaking Kujur’s previous record of 10.18]. It took a bit of the limelight off him and the pressure was sort of back on Animesh. It’s really bringing Indian sprinting down [in terms of time],” says Hillier.

Coming from the same stable, Madhya Pradesh Athletics Academy (MPAA), pole vaulters Meena and Kuldeep are brothers in arms. They train together under coach Ghanshyam Yadav, carry their poles and travel together while challenging each other to the best of their ability. Ultimately, the success one achieves makes the other happy, as they believe their teamwork will help them attain excellence. Coincidentally, the two were tied at 5.45m and shared the new national record at Ranchi.

“We will continue to fight with each other so that we can raise the level,” says Meena.

Kuldeep, who joined the MPAA a year ago, was welcomed by the already established Meena, as he saw that pushing the mark alone was a difficult task for him.

Victory through harmony

“We will do better in the future. It is a very technical sport. We are working on it. We are learning more and more with each passing day. If we learn and improve, it will be very good for both of us. We fight during our training. We fight during competitions. We support each other. We go ahead of each other. We are good friends. We should work to bring laurels for the country,” says Kuldeep.

While complementing each other, they have no hesitation in appreciating each other’s strengths.

“Dev’s technique is good. I think his competition mindset is good. I won’t say mine is bad either. I give him a good fight,” says Kuldeep.

“Kuldeep has a powerful body. I have got speed,” notes Meena.

Their coach Ghanshyam Yadav loves his two obedient trainees. “They are training together and competing with each other. Their communication with me is very good. If you say something to them, they will listen to you. They are training together and using the same pole,” says Yadav.

Acknowledging the media’s role in highlighting the plight of his wards while travelling with poles on a train in January and making their lives a little easier, Yadav dreams of guiding Meena and Kuldeep to greater glory and transforming pole vault into a well-known sport in India.

“We are trying to take the pole vault to a new height. Like Neeraj Chopra, who highlighted javelin by shining at the Olympics, we also want to take pole vault to that level,” says Yadav.

If the Federation meet was full of high-class performances and great camaraderie, it also had an aberration in the form of an undesirable feud between 40-year-old Olympian Sandeep Kumar and 18-year-old promising athlete Nitin Gupta in the men’s 10,000m racewalk.

After Gupta won the race comfortably, beating second-placed Sandeep, the two Army athletes, who train under different coaches, exchanged pleasantries and posed for photographs.

However, in a behind-the-scenes tussle for success, Sandeep filed a complaint against Gupta for receiving assistance from fellow competitors during the race. In the end, Gupta was disqualified for breaching World Athletics technical rules and Sandeep was crowned champion.

While different coaches present at the venue had varied opinions about the episode, it exposed intra-departmental competitiveness which not only created an unfriendly environment but also ended up being a disheartening experience for an emerging talent.

Of course, one can draw parallels to such incidents of bitter rivalry in international athletics over the decades, including Sebastian Coe versus Steve Ovett at the 1980 Moscow Olympics and Mary Decker versus Zola Budd at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Grace under pressure

No matter how much athletes push themselves to the limit and put their composure through stern tests, instances of companionship, a genuine emotion prevailing in humanity, will always outnumber examples of bitter competitiveness not only in track and field but also in sport at large.

As the 2026 calendar gears up for more intensity, with events such as the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games promising top-class action, one can only hope to see an atmosphere of fellowship in a world divided by conflicts.

File photo of Rohit Rajpal.
| Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar