Australia has been a dominant force in the Commonwealth Games throughout its history, but there are plenty of nations ready to cut us down.
From the Welsh and English in the pool to the Canadians and Kiwis across athletics and the team sports, Australia’s athletes will have to be at their absolute best to bring home gold in Glasgow.
Here are some of the international stars to watch out for in 2026.
Sign up to The Nightly’s newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.
Matthew Richards (Swimming)
Australia are no doubt set to dominate in the pool, but Welsh star Matthew Richards will be on their heels.
Richards tasted Olympic gold at the tender age of 18, a part of the triumphant Great Britain 4x200m freestyle relay team in the Tokyo Olympics.
By age 20, he was a world champion, claiming the 200m freestyle title in a stacked field at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
His next feat was even more remarkable, as he became the first person in history to break the 22-second barrier in the 50m freestyle, the 48-second barrier in the 100m freestyle and the 1.45-second barrier in the 200m freestyle.
And now he enters the Glasgow Games at the peak of his powers and will likely be the favourite in his pet event after claiming silver in Paris two years ago.
Matthew Richards. Credit: Laurence Griffiths
Emma Finucane (Cycling)
Emma Finucane will represent Wales at the Commonwealth Games having created a significant piece of Great Britain history at the Paris Olympics.
She became the first British woman to win three medals at a Games since 1964, ruling the Velodrome.
Finucane won gold in the team sprint with a record time before adding bronze in the keirin and individual sprint.
She has not only starred at the Olympic level, becoming the first British women’s sprint world champion in a decade when she won gold in Glasgow in 2023, before doubling down with European gold in 2024, the first British woman to achieve the feat.
She enters the Commonwealth Games in strong form, having already claimed a raft of medals this year and set a new world record time of 9.759 seconds in the 200m flying lap in Turkey, registering an average speed of 73.8km/h.
The 23-year-old isn’t short of confidence either, making it clear she wanted the record ahead of the 2026 UEC Track Elite European Championships.
“I let everyone know that I wanted to break this world record, and I think every girl coming into this competition wanted to take the opportunity too,” she said.
Emma Finucane. Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
Max Whitlock (Gymnastics)
The Englishman has achieved just about everything he has ever set out to do, and coming out of retirement to shoot for a fifth Olympics in LA in two years’ time, the Commonwealth Games will be an important marker for the 33-year-old.
The pommel horse star is already considered a legend of the sport with three Olympic gold medals as well as three bronze, dating all the way back to the London Olympics.
In Rio, Whitlock won Great Britain’s first medal in the all-around event for 108 years, before becoming the first British gold medallist in artistic gymnastics with dual wins in the floor and pommel horse events.
He defended his pommel horse crown in Tokyo but just missed the podium in Paris. He has claimed multiple World Championship medals, including three gold, and is a four-time Commonwealth Games champion for England.
While Whitlock’s form has declined since Tokyo, his hunger is at an all-time high after taking a break from the sport, including missing his home Commonwealth Games.
Max Whitlock. Credit: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
Rosie Eccles (Boxing)
Welsh national boxing champion Rosie Eccles has had an anything-but-easy path to the heights of her sporting dreams.
She was initially told she couldn’t be trained as a boxer because many gyms wouldn’t train women, but she quickly proved her aptitude, winning a silver medal at welterweight at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
However, three bouts of COVID-19 and nerve damage ruined her dream of competing in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It didn’t take her long to overcome the disappointment, though, storming to gold in Birmingham, stopping Australia’s Kaye Scott in round two of the final to be crowned the light middleweight champion.
Eccles then achieved her Olympic dream in Paris, only to be left heartbroken by a bizarre split-decision loss in the first round to Polish fighter Aneta Rygielska.
Despite having points deducted and Eccles being ahead on every pundit’s card, the two ringside judges deemed it equal, then signalled that Rygielska was the winner. The result is sure to fuel the Welsh star’s fire in Glasgow.
Rosie Eccles. Credit: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images for Glasgow 2026
Lilian Odira (Middle-distance runner)
Australia are beginning to enter a golden generation in athletics with a strong range of runners.
However, our middle-distance stars will have to find their way past another Kenyan great-in-the-making if they want to achieve their dreams in Glasgow.
Lilian Odira became the 800m world champion in 2025 after years of dominance in Africa. The 27-year-old has gone from strength to strength since the birth of her two sons.
Odira won the 2025 World Athletics Championships 800 metre final in a personal best 1:54.62.
She has also shown strong form so far this year, placing third in 1:57.27 in the 800 metres at the 2026 Diamond League in Rabat before winning the Kenyan national title for the third year in a row last month.
Lilian Odira of Kenya. Credit: Ali Gradischer/Getty Images
Ferdinand Omanyala (Sprinter)
Ferdinand Omanyala will be out to defend his 100-metre crown in Glasgow and become the first African man to do so.
The Kenyan sprinter lit up the track in Birmingham and enters this year’s Commonwealth Games as one of the favourites.
After an injury in 2025, Omanyala has been in great form, already recording five sub-10-second performances to reinforce his title as Africa’s fastest man. Speaking after claiming another national title, the 30-year-old said it’s gold or bust in Glasgow.
“Being known for a history maker and a record breaker, no one has ever won the Commonwealth Games 100 metres twice”, he said.
“So that’s what I’m chasing. So that’s one thing that I’m going in with. It doesn’t matter whatever people say about the competition. That’s what I’m chasing. And then, of course, the challenge.”
Omanyala didn’t do himself justice at the Paris Olympics, unable to get through his semifinal, but he could well be one of the favourites coming into the Commonwealth Games.
Ferdinand Omurwa. Credit: Matthias Hangst/Getty Images
Camryn Rogers (Hammer throw)
Not many athletes at these Games will possess more raw power than Canadian world champion Camryn Rogers.
Rogers has been the queen of the hammer throw since the turn of the decade, claiming Commonwealth Games gold in 2022, Olympic gold in 2024 and dual world titles in 2023 and 2025.
At last year’s World Championships, she recorded a throw of 80.51 metres to claim victory, a throw nearly four metres further than her gold medal-winning effort in Paris as well as the seventh-longest throw of all-time and the longest by anyone other than Poland’s Anita Włodarczyk.
However, she has been going even better in the first half of 2026, which is an imposing thought considering she won nine of her first ten events to start the 2025 season, recording a personal best of 81.13m, the fourth-longest throw in history, in Austin, Texas.
In the Olympic final, Rogers took the lead in the first round, but with the pressure of being the favourite, her next three throws saw her fall out of the gold medal position.
But come the moment Rogers steeled herself, hurling her last hammer 76.97 metres to become the first gold medal-winning Canadian woman in track and field in 96 years, the previous two coming in 1928 when women’s athletics debuted.
Rogers will enter Glasgow as the unbackable favourite.
Camryn Rogers. Credit: Al Bello/Getty Images
Andre De Grasse (Sprinter)
If you’re looking for star power at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, look no further than Canada’s equal-most decorated Olympian Andre De Grasse.
The sprinter is a seven-time Olympic medallist, including gold in the 200 metres at Tokyo 2020. He also has two bronze medals in the 100m, coming in 2016 and 2020.
While the 31-year-old has not been named to compete in the individual events, his involvement in the men’s 4x100m relay, alongside teammates Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney, and Jerome Blake, who won gold together in Paris, makes his time on track a must-watch.
De Grasse himself has declared the quartet “contenders”.
“Having all those guys, we’re contenders,” he said. “We’re gold medalist contenders. So, I’m looking forward to that.”
In last year’s World Championships, De Grasse ran the anchor leg, receiving the baton in 5th before storming home to place Canada on the podium in third, proving age is yet to catch up with his remarkable speed.
2025 was a big year for the sprint champion, inducted into the Order of Canada for his sporting achievements as well as his charity work through the Andre De Grasse Family Foundation.
Andre De Grasse. Credit: Andrej Isakovic/AP
David Liti (Weightlifter)
There’s a good reason New Zealand’s David Liti is nicknamed The Big Bear. The weightlifter is a giant, and that size makes his power clear to see.
In 2018 on the Gold Coast, he announced himself to the world by setting a record for the +105 kg category on his way to glory, lifting a combined total of 403 kg in the Snatch and Clean and Jerk.
His efforts on the Olympic stage have also been more than commendable.
In Tokyo, he lifted a combined total of 414 kg in the +109 kg weight class to finish fifth before dropping down to +102 kg in Paris, where he finished eighth.
He won gold at the 2024 Oceania Championships in his hometown of Auckland, with a total lift of 413 kg.
Liti claimed a silver medal at the 2025 Commonwealth Championships and repeated the effort at the 2026 Oceania Championships on the run to Glasgow.
If Liti can medal in the +110kg program at Glasgow’s SEC Armadillo be the first New Zealand weightlifter to win a medal at three separate Commonwealth Games after silver in Birmingham.
David Liti. Credit: Phil Walter/Getty Images
Neeraj Chopra (javelin)
Neeraj Chopra will shoulder significant expectations as he enters his second Commonwealth Games.
In his last appearance at the Games in 2018 on the Gold Coast, the Indian star claimed gold, becoming the first Indian to do so.
However, it was just the beginning of what the now 28-year-old would go on to achieve.
After battling elbow spurs in 2019 and 2020, Chopra entered the Tokyo Olympics with plenty of optimism and started well, topping his qualification group.
And on his second throw of the final, he sealed another huge slice of history, hurling the Javelin 87.58 metres to become the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal in any athletics event, and the first post-independence Indian Olympic medalist in athletics.
He performed strongly in Paris as well, very nearly defending his Olympic crown but settling for silver instead.
He now enters Glasgow at his peak, having recorded a career-best and national record 90.23-metre throw in May last year.
Neeraj Chopra of India. Credit: Tim Clayton – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images
Sarah Adlington (Judo)
Scotland’s two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist is shaping up as a colossus in Judo.
Sarah Adlington has won more than 75 medals, including becoming champion of Great Britain on eight occasions, and as recently as 2024, in the heavyweight division.
The 39-year-old’s luck has not been so good at the Olympic level but her love affair with the Commonwealth Games began in her home country in 2014.
It was the sport’s fourth appearance at the Games, and her victory over Englishwoman Jodie Myers helped Scotland equal England’s 13 overall Judo medals.
Judo didn’t feature in 2018 on the Gold Coast but came back for Birmingham, with Adlington quickly setting her sights on gold again and becoming the first athlete to win two Judo golds.
She retired in 2025, but with the Games shifting from Victoria back to her home nation, she will don the judogi for Scotland one last time.
“Experience teaches you a lot, and I’ve definitely got plenty of that,” Adlington told BBC Sport. “I’m hoping I can put it to good use at the Games.
“Competing at Glasgow is a bonus, and it’s going to be the perfect ending to my career.”
Sarah Adlington. Credit: Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Hamish Kerr (High Jump)
Team New Zealand will be chanting “give it to him now” when Hamish Kerr steps up for the high jump in Glasgow.
The 198cm 29-year-old has become the star of his discipline after claiming Olympic and World Championship gold back-to-back.
And he’s the defending Commonwealth Games champion to boot.
He started making his name in Townsville, of all places, at the Oceania Athletics Championships, where he broke the national record.
Since then, he has reset that mark countless times.
His first run at the Olympics saw him finish 10th, but two years later, he hit his straps, and by his next big Games final in Birmingham, he was more than ready.
He cleared the bar at 2.25m for a fairly comfortable win.
It was anything but comfortable at his next Olympics, the big New Zealander forcing American Shelby McEwen into a jump-off.
Both failed the first two jumps before Kerr cleared 2.34m to leave the American one last chance, which he missed, handing gold to the Kiwi.
However, no one really came close to him at last year’s World Championships, Kerr setting a new career high to now enter the Commonwealth Games as the reigning Olympic and world champion.
(L-R) Silver medal winner Brandon Starc of Team Australia and gold medalist Hamish Kerr of Team New Zealand celebrate following the Men’s High Jump Final in Birmingham. Credit: David Ramos/Getty Images
Rhys McClenaghan (Gymnastics)
Northern Ireland are led by a bona fide gymnastics star heading into the Glasgow Games.
Rhys McClenaghan already stands as one of the country’s greatest athletes, having already claimed two Commonwealth Games medals representing Northern Ireland and Olympic gold for Ireland.
The 26-year-old has carved out an outstanding legacy to date but more gold at the Commonwealth Games will set him up for legend status at the Los Angeles Olympics.
His first Commonwealth Games gold came on the Gold Coast in his pet discipline, the pommel horse.
He was just 18 at the time and knocked off English superstar Max Whitlock.
McClenaghan finished seventh in Tokyo and very nearly missed out on the Birmingham Commonwealth Games after a legal row with the International Gymnastics Federation over nationality.
He was given special dispensation to compete and made it count with a silver medal.
However, his biggest achievement was still to come.
Beneath the spotlight of the gymnasticc world, McClenaghan produced “the routine of his life” to score 15.533 and become the first-ever Olympic gymnastics medalist for Ireland.
He will enter Glasgow fresh but with less form under his belt than he would normally have after being unable to compete at all in 2025 due to shoulder surgery.
Rhys McClenaghan. Credit: Naomi Baker/Getty Images
Katherine Plouffe (3×3 Basketball)
Canada is set to be one of the teams to beat in just the second-ever appearance of the women’s 3×3 Basketball at the Commonwealth Games.
And Katherine Plouffe is a big reason why.
Plouffe started her basketball journey playing 5×5 for the national team, including alongside her sister at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where Team Canada finished seventh.
However, since making the switch to 3×3, she has become one of the sports’ stars.
She helped Canada to silver at the 2022 FIBA 3×3 World Cup, which came just before back-to-back FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series Final golds.
At 191cm, she has generally played a power-forward role, playing close to the basket and using her strength to break down defence.
Plouffe will also be more determined than ever in 2026, with Glasgow likely to be the 33-year-old’s last Commonwealth Games appearance.
Michelle Plouffe. Credit: Lars Baron/Getty Images
Shamera Sterling-Humphrey (Netball)
Shamera Sterling-Humphrey will be well-known to Australian netball fans. She plys her trade as goalkeeper for reigning premiers Adelaide in the Super Netball.
But the Jamaican will be a thorn in the Diamonds’ side come the Commonwealth Games, as she has been at the past two.
In 2018, the Jamaicans claimed a bronze medal, but in Birmingham, they went all the way to the final, where they met the Australians, whom they had beaten in the group stage.
They could not repeat the dose and had to settle for silver; however, it was Jamaica’s first-ever Commonwealth Games silver.
Sterling-Humphrey was also part of the 2023 Bronze medal-winning team at the World Cup in Cape Town, the same season she was named Super Netball Player of the Year.
She will be dreaming of gold in Glasgow, where Jamaica shape as a contender for Australia’s crown.
Shamera Sterling-Humphrey. Credit: Kelly Defina/Getty Images
