Playing our Part: Glasgow 2026 is Here

Scottish students, staff, and volunteers will be front and centre of the action as the 2026 Commonwealth Games gets underway in Glasgow this week.

3,000 athletes from 74 nations and territories arrive in Glasgow to compete across ten sports, with the action kicking off with the Opening Ceremony this Thursday.

The opportunity for a home Commonwealth Games is something most athletes can only dream of. It is especially notable for this generation of athletes as many grew up and were inspired by Glasgow’s last Commonwealth Games in 2014; citing the event as pertinent in them falling in love with their sport.

Who to look out for?

Those in search of medal opportunities for Scottish students should start their search at the pool where students are prominent in the Team Scotland squad.

Leading the charge is our two-time Scottish Student Sport Female Athlete of the Year Angharad Evans (University of Stirling). British record holder in both the 100m and 200m Breaststroke, she will compete across individual and relay events in a bid to boost Team Scotland’s medal haul.

Evans is one of 18 swimmers based at the University of Stirling who will compete, representing Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and Malaysia. of that number, eight are also supported by the Winning Students 100 Scholarship.

A total of 27 students competing in Glasgow were recipients of a Winning Students scholarship in 2025/26, which supports students competing at the highest level of sport alongside their studies.

On the track, Megan Keith (University of Edinburgh) will be helping lead the capital institution’s hopes as she competes over the 5,000m and 10,000m events, while sprinters Alyson Bell (University of Edinburgh) and Lucy Fraser (University of Glasgow) will be part of a women’s 4x100m squad pushing for home success.

Fraser has also been a mainstay of our Scottish Student events this season winning Gold in the 400m at our Indoor Championships (in a Championship Record), and completing the 100m/2oom double at Outdoors in Aberdeen.

Two student gymnasts will take to the floor in Cameron Lynn and Crystelle Lake (both University of Stirling), while the university will also be represented by Shayne Humphries who will play in Scotland’s first Commonwealth Games 3×3 wheelchair basketball team. Joining Humphries will be West Lothian College student Finlay Erskine, one of two Scottish college students competing.

The University of Strathclyde are represented by Mark Stewart in track cycling and Lexy Gillies in netball, who is joined in the squad by Jazmine Moore (University of Glasgow).

Judo sees a number of current students compete, including Sunny Doig (Heriot-Watt University), Eva Ewing (City of Glasgow College), and Sophie Wood (Edinburgh Napier University).

In the SEC, Team Scotland will be hoping that Weightlifter Alex Mackay (University of Dundee) can produce a similar performance to the one that secured them the British Championship last month.

Who else is involved?

Aside from the athletes, staff from across the sector are involved

We’re also delighted that two of our staff team are involved with Team Scotland – Chris Purdie as Deputy Chef de Mission and Julia Stenhouse-Walton who will support the Celebrating Success media team. Hear more from them soon.

Finally, the Games would not be possible without the incredible number of volunteers who have stepped up. Many are current students with a number also current volunteers with SSS. We’ll be chatting to a few of them about their experiences throughout the summer.