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Malaysia’s Medal Aspirations Hit A Snag As Glasgow Cuts Key Sports From 2026 Commonwealth Games

Glasgow removes more than 10 sport disciplines such as badminton and diving from the programme.

22 Oct 2024 by Adeline Leong · TRP Msia · Join

Glasgow in Scotland, the host of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, has decided to cut more than 10 sports from the programme.

The axed sports disciplines are:

Badminton
Diving
Squash
Rhythmic gymnastics
Table tennis
Field hockey
Rugby sevens
Road cycling
Mountain biking
Triathlon
Beach volleyball
Wrestling

In other words, Malaysia’s dream of earning more gold medals at the games is cut short. Malaysia won a total of 14 medals (four gold) from sports like badminton, squash, diving, rhythmic gymnastics, and table tennis.

However, there’s still a silver lining because weightlifting, para powerlifting, lawn bowls, judo, and track cycling remain in the programme. Malaysia’s athletes had won eight medals (three gold) from these sports in Birmingham before.

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) said the 2026 Games will take place in Scotland from 23 July to 2 August 2026.

The 2026 Games will feature a 10-sport programme including athletics and para athletics, swimming and para swimming, artistic gymnastics, track cycling and para track cycling, netball, para powerlifting, boxing, judo, bowls and para bowls, 3×3 Basketball, and 3×3 Wheelchair Basketball.

Previously, Victoria, Australia withdrew from hosting the global sports event due to rising costs. Malaysia and Singapore were given the opportunity to host but turned it down as well.

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