Commonwealth Games 2026: day one updates – live
Key events
3×3 basketball: Australia finished as runners-up in the men’s 3×3 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.
