India’s fastest man, its first 8,000-point decathlete and a world champion boxer: Reliance Foundation Sports’ nine for Glasgow 2026
Nine athletes from Reliance Foundation Sports will represent India at the Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow, which run from July 23 to August 2. Eight of them are part of the 32-member athletics squad named by the Athletics Federation of India. Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain completes the group in boxing.
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.
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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.
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Tejas Shirse arrives in record shape
Tejas Shirse’s build-up has been the most dramatic of the lot. He started the year injured, came back to win gold at the Federation Cup, and still missed the CWG qualifying time of 13.39 seconds in Ranchi and again in Chinese Taipei despite finishing on the podium at both. At the Indian Athletics Series meet in Ludhiana in June, he ran 13.27 seconds to break his own 110m hurdles national record of 13.41 seconds and book his Glasgow 2026 ticket. “I told myself it’s a free hit,” he said after the race. The time ranks him sixth among Asian hurdlers in 2026.
Yashas Palaksha joins him on the barriers in the 400m hurdles. The Karnataka athlete came through the domestic selection trials and will make his Commonwealth Games debut.
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Murali Sreeshankar wants the medal colour changed
Murali Sreeshankar is one of the Reliance Foundation Sports athlete with a Commonwealth Games medal in his current event. He won long jump silver at Birmingham 2022 with 8.08m, beaten to gold only on countback. After a knee injury wiped out his Paris 2024 Olympic campaign, he opened his 2026 season in April with 8.15m in Bengaluru, where all six of his jumps cleared 7.91m. His personal best is 8.41m. At Glasgow 2026, silver is not the target.
One of India’s upcoming long jumpers, Lokesh Sathyanathan, is the other long jumper in the squad. He met the qualification standard early through marks set in competitions abroad and was among the first Reliance Foundation Sports athletes confirmed for the Commonwealth Games. Aadarsh Ram too earned the high jump berth on the back of a consistent domestic season that included a 2.23m clearance in Bengaluru. Both are Commonwealth Games debutants.
Tejaswin Shankar, twice over
Tejaswin Shankar will head to Glasgow 2026 entered in two events, the decathlon and the high jump. At the Federation Cup he scored 8,057 points to become the first Indian past the 8,000-point barrier in the decathlon, well clear of the qualifying standard of 7,787. His 2.25m high jump within that decathlon would have cleared the AFI’s standalone high jump mark on its own.
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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.
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