Commonwealth Games 2026: One year to go countdown
These Games were last held in the Scottish city in 2014.
The 2026 Games will feature a radically reduced 10-sport programme, including six fully integrated Para Sports, hosted in four venues.
The sports to be represented are: 3×3 Basketball and 3×3 Wheelchair Basketball, Artistic Gymnastics, Athletics and Para Athletics, Bowls and Para Bowls, Boxing, Cycling and Para Cycling, Judo, Netball, Swimming and Para Swimming and Weightlifting and Para Powerlifting. Team SA history at Commonwealth Games
Below is a short refresher as to how Team SA has fared at the Commonwealth Games, since returning from isolation in 1994.
Chad le Clos' silver medal in the 200m butterfly increased his total at the Commonwealth Games to 18, which is the joint most of any male athlete. The overall record is 20 by Australian swimmer Emma McKeon. Lara van Niekerk was South Africa's most successful athlete in Birmingham, with a gold medal in both the 50m breaststroke and 100m breaststroke.
Medals: 7 gold 9 silver 11 bronze. Total 27
These will be remembered as the Games where Tatjana Smith (Schoenmaker) announced her arrival. She won gold in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke and from there went on to win medals in both events at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Elsewhere, veterans Chad le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh (swimming) and Akani Simbine (pictured) and Caster Semenya (athletics) also won gold.
Medals: 13 gold 11 silver 13 bronze. Total 37
A successful haul of 40 medals – the second largest in the country's Games history – came off the back of 13 gold medals spread across five sports. Leading the way was lawn bowls with five golds, with three each from swimming and one each from judo and rugby sevens. Swimmer Chad le Clos won two golds for the biggest individual return.
Medals: 13 gold 10 silver 17 bronze. Total 40
Chad le Clos' gold in the 200m butterfly singled him out as an emerging star and two years later he beat the great Michael Phelps to gold in the London Olympics. Para-swimmer Natalie du Toit won three more gold medals to add to the two each from Melbourne and Manchester and helped ensure that seven of the 12 gold medals at these Games were in the pool.
Medals: 12 gold 11 silver 10 bronze. Total 33
The 'Awesome Foursome' of the Athens 2004 Olympics was back, with Gerhard Zandberg replacing Darian Townsend. The 4x100m freestyle quartet beat Australia in a Games record time to win gold, while Roland Schoeman collected three golds in the pool and para-swimmer Natalie du Toit, who was going to become the third amputee ever to qualify for the Olympics two years later, taking two golds. Boxing won its last gold for Team SA at the Games.
Medals: 12 gold 13 silver 13 bronze. Total 38
Para-swimmer Natalie du Toit won the first two of what would be seven Commonwealth Games gold in the pool for her. She and Roland Schoeman earned swimming gold, while the other golds came in track and field. One of them was star 800m athlete Mbulaeni Mulaudzi who was later tragically killed in a car accident in 2014. Eleven different sports – including wheelchair table tennis – earned medals for Team SA.
Medals: 9 gold 20 silver 17 bronze. Total 46
The first Games to introduce yellow into the logo and also the Games where South Africa won men's cricket gold (50 overs) the last time it was hosted at the Games. A star-studded Team SA beat Australia to the gold medal. Other sports to collect gold were athletics, lawn bowls, shooting and gymnastics.
Medals: 10 gold 14 silver 12 bronze. Total 36
These were the first Games South Africa attended after a 36-year break of apartheid-enforced isolation. Two gold medals were won, both in lawn bowls (mens and women's Fours), while domestic stars Elana Meyer, Hezekiel Sepeng and Charmaine Weavers took silver in track and field. Team SA placed 12th on the table, which is their lowest post-isolation finish so far.
Medals: 2 gold 4 silver 5 bronze. Total 11
Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1
Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
eNCA
3 hours ago
- eNCA
Marchand, McIntosh rampant as US end turbulent worlds with record
SINGAPORE - Leon Marchand and Summer McIntosh sealed their golden swimming world championships with rampant victories on Sunday's final day of competition as the United States signed off with a relay record. Eight days of competition in Singapore wrapped up in style with French superstar Marchand and 18-year-old Canadian sensation McIntosh underlining their dominance. Marchand, who won four golds and was the face of his home Paris Olympics a year ago, added the 400m individual medley crown to his 200m medley title this week. The 23-year-old arrived in Singapore with a lighter programme in an effort to smash Ryan Lochte's 2011 200m IM world record -- and he did just that. Marchand on Sunday cruised to victory in the 400IM, powering to the wall in 4min 04.73sec, more than three seconds ahead of Japan's Tomoyuki Matsushita (4:08.32), with Russian Ilia Borodin (4:09.16) third. AFP | François-Xavier MARIT Not to be outdone, McIntosh was similarly emphatic in winning the women's 400IM for her fourth gold in Singapore, to go with triumphs in the 200m medley, 200m butterfly and 400m freestyle. The world record holder led from start to finish to romp to victory in a championships-record 4:25.78, with Australia's Jenna Forrester and Japan's Mio Narita sharing silver (4:33.26). McIntosh's only defeat of the championships came on Saturday when she finished third in the 800m freestyle, with the American Katie Ledecky dominating that event once more to underline her enduring quality aged 28. The US team were battling acute gastroenteritis all week and faced criticism from Olympic greats Michael Phelps and Lochte. AFP | Manan VATSYAYANA But they silenced the doubters by breaking their own world record in winning the women's 4x100m medley relay. The Americans were victorious in 3:49.34, beating their previous record of 3:49.63 from Paris a year ago. They also set a mixed 4x100m freestyle world record on Saturday. The US ended a turbulent week top of the pile with nine golds, ahead of Australia with eight and France and Canada on four -- all by McIntosh. - Dream gold - Australia's Meg Harris beamed from ear to ear after joining compatriot Cam McEvoy as a 50m freestyle champion. A day after McEvoy won the men's sprint, Paris Olympics silver medallist Harris powered home in 24.02sec to beat Chinese pair Wu Qingfeng (24.26) and Cheng Yujie (24.28). Harris said becoming an individual world champion was "the dream I have been dreaming of the whole time". "This is why I swim," said the 23-year-old. Tunisia's Ahmed Jaouadi added the 1,500m freestyle world title to his 800m crown, with two-time Olympic champion Bobby Finke only third. Jaouadi won a thriller to grab gold in 14min 34.41sec, ahead of Germany's Sven Schwarz (14:35.69) and the American world record holder Finke (14:36.60). There was a Russian victory in the men's 50m backstroke, with world record holder Kliment Kolesnikov dominating for gold in a championships-record 23.68sec. Fellow Russian Pavel Samusenko and South Africa's Pieter Coetze shared silver, 0.49sec behind. AFP | François-Xavier MARIT Russian swimmers are competing as neutrals because of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Lithuania's Ruta Meilutyte sealed a career fourth women's 50m breaststroke world crown. The Russians won the men's 4x100m medley relay from France and the United States. By Peter Stebbings
TimesLIVE
4 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
Norris cuts into Piastri's lead with victory in Hungary
Lando Norris held off McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri to win the Hungarian Grand Prix and slash the Australian's Formula One lead to nine points after completing more than half the race on a single set of hard tyres. Australian Piastri made two stops to Norris's one and finished a mere 0.6 of a second behind the Briton while George Russell took a distant third to complete the podium for Mercedes. The race at the Hungaroring outside Budapest was the last before Formula One's August break.
eNCA
6 hours ago
- eNCA
Australia's beaming Harris foils Walsh treble bid at swimming worlds
SINGAPORE - Australia's Meg Harris denied Gretchen Walsh a sprint treble at swimming's world championships in Singapore on Sunday, winning the 50m freestyle for her first individual world title. Harris, the Paris Olympics silver medallist, powered home in 24.02sec to beat Chinese pair Wu Qingfeng (24.26) and Cheng Yujie (24.28). The American Walsh, who won gold in the 50m and 100m butterfly in Singapore, finished fourth in 24.40. Australia also won the men's 50m freestyle, with Cam McEvoy taking gold on Saturday. Harris said becoming an individual world champion was "the dream I have been dreaming of the whole time". "This is why I swim," said the 23-year-old, who could not stop smiling as the magnitude of her achievement set in. "I still can't put it into words, it'll take a while to process." World record holder Sarah Sjoestroem of Sweden, the reigning Olympic champion and a four-time world title-holder in the event, did not compete in Singapore. "I love sprinting, I love racing. Could not be more happy," added Harris. The Australian has now won six world golds in her career. The previous five were in relay events.
