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Key events
Yara reports on Mark Swan’s victory, the first gold medal of the Games.
Artistic gymnastics: Twenty minutes to go before the start of the final session of the men’s team final, with England gunning for their fourth consecutive Commonwealth gold in this event.
Mark Swan speaks to TNT about securing gold, having won silver in Birmingham and at the Paris Olympics. He explains how he wasn’t expecting gold after failing to make his third lift.
“I never paid attention to anybody that was before me so it was a big shock. I thought maybe a bronze medal but it was actually our performance director that was like: ‘Mark, you’ve won gold.’ I was looking around like: ‘Are you sure – you’re not winding me up?’”
Para powerlifting: That’s two medals for England after the first two medal events, with Olivia Broome (bronze) joining Mark Swan (gold).
🥇 Esther Nworgu (Nigeria) wins gold in women's lightweight para powerlifting
Here comes Olivia Broome, going for 124kg, but she can’t improve upon her 119kg lift. Having won silver in Birmingham four years ago, she’ll have to settle for bronze this time round. Nworgu records a no lift while trying to deliver 124kg, and here comes Oyema, who also fails to pull off a clean lift – Nworgu takes gold!
Para powerlifting: Esther Nworgu, having broken the Commonwealth record with her first lift, screams before going for her second. And she’s lifted 123kg to record 119 points! Her compatriot Esther Oyema brushes aside her earlier no lift and delivers at a whopping 125kg. With her body weight at 50.3kg, that takes her to 115.5 points and second place. It could be a Nigeria one-two in the women’s lightweight final.
Taha Hashim
Para powerlifting: Thanks, Billy. We’re still focused on the women’s lightweight final with the medals incoming … bad news for Nigeria’s Esther Oyema and India’s Suman Devi, both recording no lifts. England’s Olivia Broome lifted 115kg with her first go, now she’s trying 119kg – and she delivers! Broome’s on course for silver.
Taha Hashim has returned and he’ll see you through the next couple of hours.
Para powerlifting: England’s Lottie McGuinness takes a bow to the Yorkshire-flag-waving crowd (she’s from Harrogate) after she completes her first lift of 105kg in Group A. Her teammate Olivia Broome follows with a controlled lift of 115kg.
The two Esthers from Nigeria, Nworgu and Oyema, have ambitious starting weights and will be the main challengers for gold. Nworgu lets out a scream as she leans back for her first lift … and breaks the Commonwealth record with ease – 118kg. Good luck, everyone else.
Para powerlifting: An inspiring story in Group B of the women’s lightweight competition. Natasha Price, now 45, woke up on Boxing Day in 2008 blind in her right eye. “Within approximately a week or so, I’d gone completely blind in both eyes. Within a month of that I was paralysed from the waist down,” she said. The Australian was told she had a rare disease affecting her spinal cord and optic nerve and might have as little as five years to live. “I spent approximately 10 years bed-bound,” she said, before getting her life back on track.
After being involved as a volunteer at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, she decided she wanted to become an athlete. She is also now a keynote speaker and founder of InvincAble, a social impact organisation empowering people and redefining how the world sees disability.
Price is all smiles as she successfully lifts 63kg and 66kg before falling short on 68kg. She finishes 5th in Group B at her first Commonwealth Games.
“I’m super happy just to be out here,” says Rhys McClenaghan on TNT Sports.
The floor was a nice bonus – I haven’t been on floor since 2018. The energy is great here in Glasgow. It would’ve been nice to come home with two medals but it won’t be a floor final for me here.
My pommel horse was far from perfect – there are people from all over the world who can beat that. That was the best score I got all year. It done the job but we build from here.
Will he watch the rest of the competition later?
Maybe. I’m not sure. I don’t like to watch too much gymnastics when I’m out here. I’ll probably be watching my routine back more than anybody else’s. Slow-motion, frame by frame, stop and zoom it in.
Gymnastics: Rhys McClenaghan’s floor routine includes a couple of stumbles at the end. His hopes of qualifying for the floor final are in the balance a bit – a score of 12.350 puts him into 5th place in the standings. The 2024 Olympic pommel horse champion wanted to compete in another event final at these Games.
His Northern Irish teammate Eamon Montgomery, 5th in the floor final in 2022, ends with a double-twist, double-back somersault and lands it. He posts a score of 13.000 and goes 4th.
3x3 Basketball: New Zealand’s men have stormed to a 21-3 victory over Guyana in Pool A, bouncing back from their opening defeat to Australia this morning. New Zealand’s basketball team are known as the Tall Blacks, which is just fantastic.
Canada, Australia and England had a stranglehold over 3x3 basketball at the 2022 Games – all four events, including the wheelchair categories, ended with those three nations in the medals.
More competitions under way are the bowls – England face Tonga in the women’s pairs – and the women’s lightweight para powerlifting – England’s Olivia Broome goes in Group A later.
The sixth and final rotation of the second subdivision of the men’s gymnastics team final is also in progress. Northern Ireland’s Rhys McClenaghan is due to compete on the floor.
3x3 basketball: The afternoon session is under way with Australia’s women making it two from two today with a 21-13 win against Jamaica – the 2022 bronze medallists also beat Kenya 21-5 in Pool A this morning.
England’s national anthem, Jerusalem, plays as Mark Swan stands on top of the podium with the first gold medal of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, handed to him by the Duke of Edinburgh. All three medallists receive a plush unicorn toy as well, of course.
Scotland’s Finlay Davidson did well to finish 5th from Group B.
Men’s lightweight para powerlifting: Final standings
Gold: Mark Swan (England) 153.9pts (222kg top lift)
Silver: Roland Ezeruike (Nigeria) 153.9 (185kg)
Bronze: Bonnie Bunyau Gustin (Malaysia) 153.5 (220kg)
4th: Ashok (India) 143.8 (200kg)
🥇 Mark Swan (England) wins gold in men's lightweight para powerlifting
After silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and 2024 Olympics, it’s gold for England’s Mark Swan! He fails with his world-record attempt of 232kg but doesn’t realise he’s still won gold! His coach breaks the news and his smile returns.
The big favourite Gustin had gone for 230kg and didn’t quite return it to the height of the bar. He opts not to appeal and will settle for bronze. Nigeria’s Ezeruike wins silver.
Para powerlifting: Nigeria’s Ezeruike’s arms go all wobbly as he attempts and fails at 190kg – his gold medal hopes are over. India’s Ashok also falls short with his final lift. It’s between England’s Swan and Malaysia’s Gustin for the first gold of the Games. Swan is going to attempt to equal the world record …
Para powerlifting: Bonnie Bunyau Gustin of Malaysia, who is the defending Commonwealth champion and world record holder, lifts 220kg to move into silver medal position on points.
England’s Mark Swan, who won silver in 2022, goes into provisional gold with an extraordinary lift of 222kg – grand piano levels of weight!
Para powerlifting: Those points scores take into account the weight lifted and how much the athletes weigh themselves. Nigeria’s Roland Ezuruike leads the way after the first round after his lift of 178kg – he weighs around 20kg less than Swan and Gustin.
Thanks Taha. Scotland’s Finlay Davidson set the benchmark in Group B of the men’s lightweight para powerlifting with a score of 141.4pts, with a best lift of 166kg.
He’s out of medal contention now after the start of Group A. Malaysia’s Bonnie Bunyau Gustin has just lifted 210kg on his first go – that’s more than the average adult gorilla. England’s Mark Swan goes bigger with a 112kg first lift. Each athlete gets three lifts and a total points score.
My first shift is over – it’s time to hand over to Billy Munday. He’ll be following the para powerlifting, where we’re going to see the first medals of these Games.
A nice read by Yara from earlier in the week:
While there are signs that an international sporting event is imminent – lamppost banners, purple merchandise and the occasional volunteer – the loudest soundtrack comes from the relentless hum of construction machinery.
Para powerlifting: Quite something to see Cameroon’s Belinga Manga lifting 145kg at the age of 56 in the men’s lightweight event.
3x3 basketball: Scotland and Guyana are in action in the men’s comp … and it takes quite a bit of time for the first bucket, nearly a minute. Here are the rules if you’re new to this thing: the first side to 21 points takes the win. If no side gets to 21 after 10 minutes, it goes to the ones in the lead. There are 12 seconds on the shot clock as the game moves at pace on a half court.
Artistic gymnastics: Rhys McClenaghan, the defending Olympic pommel horse champion, is up. But where does that achievement sit when you’ve also won Dancing With the Stars? He underwent shoulder surgery last year but he whizzes away on the horse with no bother whatsoever. And he goes to the top of the leaderboard with a score of 14.5.
Adam Ramsay-Peaty through after delay to 100m breaststroke heat
Swimming: You may breathe: the lane line has been fixed. Ramsay-Peaty has the lead at the halfway mark and he dominates with a time of 59.46, the best of all the heats in the men’s 100m breaststroke.
Swimming: ‘COMPETITION DELAYED’: up it flashes on the telly, the detached lane line causing bother. Must be very annoying for the swimmers who were just about to get going in their 100m breaststroke heat.
Swimming: Adam Ramsay-Peaty, with four Commonwealth golds to his name – his first collected at Glasgow 2014 – is up in the men’s 100m breaststroke heats. We’ve got a delay to the action though – a lane line has detached, forcing a swimmer to jump in and help the officials.
Para powerlifting: I’d like to see some prizes soon: the first medal event of the Games is in para powerlifting, with the men’s lightweight final starting at 1.10pm BST.
Boxing: England’s Lauren Mackie, in the women’s 54kg, punches through to the round of 16 with a unanimous victory against Kenya’s Amina Faki. DJ Khaled’s All I Do Is Win blasts around the ring.
This story has caught the eye, courtesy of Reuters:
Australian swimmers competing at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow will earn up to A$50,000 ($35,000) for individual gold medals won in world record times under an incentive scheme funded by Gina Rinehart, the nation’s richest person.
Swimmers in individual events will earn A$20,000 for gold, A$15,000 for silver and A$10,000 for bronze, while relay swimmers will earn between A$2,500 and A$5,000 for finishing on the medal podium.
Swimmers clocking a world record will earn an A$30,000 bonus.
With Australia the most dominant swimming power by far in the Commonwealth, plenty of the team’s top athletes will be expected to cash in at Glasgow.
“These bonuses are a way of Australia saying thank you and showing the appreciation our athletes deserve for bringing our country such a sense of pride and achievement,” mining billionaire Rinehart said in a Swimming WA statement on Friday.
“There is something very uplifting about seeing an Australian athlete stand on the podium while our flag is raised. Such exciting times make Australians proud and deserve to be celebrated.” Reuters
Swimming: Scott wins his heat with a time of 1:58.81, edging out his compatriots Evan Jones and Matthew Ward. Jones – who claimed two bronze relay medals in 2022 – will join Scott in the final.
Swimming: The focus is on Scotland’s Duncan Scott in the men’s 200m individual medley heats. He’s got eight Olympic medals, 13 in the Commonwealth Games – including three golds. And now he’s got the chance to thrive at home.
Swimming: Goggles on – they’ve entered the pool. First up is the women’s 400m freestyle heats. Ariarne Titmus – the Australian great who retired last year – claimed gold four years ago in the final.
3x3 basketball: It’s an Australian show at the moment. They’re dominant against Kenya in the women’s event, winning 21-5. Australia claimed bronze back in 2022.
3x3 basketball: Australia finished as runners-up in the men’s 3x3 basketball four years ago – they’ve just kicked off their 2026 run with a 21-15 win against New Zealand.
Artistic gymnastics: We’re underway in the men’s artistic gymnastics, with a team medal up for grabs today.
As Yara El-Shaboury points out, Rhys McClenaghan – who’ll feature in the afternoon – is one to watch.
Artistic gymnastics may feature for only five days, but it boasts one of the strongest fields of the Games. The reigning Olympic champion, Rhys McClenaghan, headlines the competition as the Northern Irishman hopes to reclaim the pommel horse title he won in 2018 after taking silver in Birmingham four years ago. He returns from injury alongside a host of established names, including Australia’s Georgia Godwin and Canada’s four-time Olympian Ellie Black, both also making welcome comebacks after injury. Scotland’s young squad, led by Reuben Ward, will hope home support can inspire an upset.
Here’s how the opening ceremony went down (KT Tunstall is class).
Preamble
After a football World Cup that threatens to get bigger and bigger, here comes something going the other way. This is, as you’ve probably heard, the stripped-back Commonwealth Games, with Glasgow stepping in after Victoria pulled out. There are no new glitzy stadiums, only 10 sports and absent stars such as Keely Hodgkinson. Yet Phil Batty, the chief executive of Glasgow 2026, has another story to tell. “This is going to be a Games that stands shoulder to shoulder with previous Games,” he told Sean Ingle. “It was an event that was in jeopardy which needed to reinvent and make itself fit for purpose for the future. We have created a format of the event that’s flexible, relevant and integrated para-sport.”
Well it’s time to have a look: today brings medal events in para powerlifting, artistic gymnastics and swimming. I’ll keep tabs on everything but this is a group effort, folks – drop me a line with your thoughts and anything I’ve missed. There’s plenty to get stuck into.
