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1 week ago
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Key events
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.
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.
