The Games return to Glasgow for the first time since 2014, with a trimmed programme of 10 sports staged across four venues in the city. India has sent a 124-member contingent, and athletics, where the Reliance Foundation Sports presence is strongest, is expected to carry a large share of the medal hopes.

The fastest Indians ever

Gurindervir Singh travels to Glasgow 2026 as the fastest Indian in history. At the Federation Cup in Ranchi in May, he won the 100m final in 10.09 seconds, the first time an Indian has gone under 10.10. The national record changed hands twice that weekend. Gurindervir ran 10.17 seconds in the semi-finals, Animesh Kujur took it off him with 10.15 seconds the same day, and Gurindervir settled the argument in the final. He also set a new 60m indoor national record of 6.60 seconds in Bhubaneswar in March. Glasgow 2026 will be his first Commonwealth Games.

Animesh, who finished second in that Ranchi final, will run the 200m. His national record of 20.32 seconds, set at the Asian Athletics Championships in 2025, makes him one of the quickest men in the Commonwealth over the half lap. Still 22, he has already held national records in the 100m, the 200m and both the men’s 4x100m and the mixed 4x100m relays. This is his Commonwealth Games debut too.

He has a history at the Commonwealth Games. His high jump bronze at Birmingham 2022 was India’s first Commonwealth Games medal in the event. Since switching to the decathlon, he has won Asian Games silver in 2022 and, earlier this season, India’s first heptathlon gold at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships.

Lovlina Borgohain’s unfinished business

Lovlina Borgohain leads India’s boxing squad in the 75kg division. Her record needs little introduction: Tokyo Olympic bronze, world champion in 2023, Asian Games silver in 2023. The Commonwealth Games is the one major event where she has no medal, with early-round exits at Gold Coast 2018 and Birmingham 2022. She sealed her Glasgow 2026 spot at the national trials in Patiala in May, beating Sanamacha Chanu 5-0 in the final. This is her third attempt at closing that gap.

What Glasgow 2026 means for India

India won eight athletics medals at Birmingham 2022, including a triple jump gold, as part of a 61-medal haul. Glasgow 2026’s smaller programme means fewer medal events overall, which raises the weight on athletics and boxing. Between two national record-holding sprinters, the fastest hurdler India has produced, a Birmingham 2022 silver medallist chasing gold, the country’s first 8,000-point decathlete and a world champion boxer, the Reliance Foundation Sports group carries some of the strongest medal cases in the Indian contingent.