Seventy golds: how Australia owned Glasgow 2026

The XXIII Commonwealth Games ran in Glasgow from 23 July to 2 August 2026, and Australia finished where it usually does: first. The final count was 70 gold, 45 silver and 56 bronze, 171 medals in all.

Swimming carried the campaign. The team won 37 gold medals in the pool, from sprint relays to the distance events. Samuel Short swept the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle, and Jenna Forrester won the 200m backstroke plus both individual medleys, the 200m and the 400m.

On the track, Rose Davies completed a 5000m and 10,000m double. Mackenzie Little won the javelin, Eleanor Patterson the high jump, Kurtis Marschall the pole vault and Matthew Denny the discus. The men’s 4x100m relay team of Lachlan Kennedy, Joshua Azzopardi, Calab Law and Rohan Browning also took gold.

In the velodrome, Leigh Hoffman won both the sprint and the 1km time trial. Australia also won gold in gymnastics, 3x3 basketball, boxing, weightlifting and para bowls.

The bowls green supplied the Games’ most memorable number. Louise Hoskins, 76, won the para women’s pairs B6–B8 with Serena Bonnell and became the oldest gold medallist in Commonwealth Games history. Pole vaulter Nina Kennedy carried the flag at the opening ceremony, and cyclist Georgia Baker carried it at the close.