From the moment King Charles III emerged from the Tardis at the Opening Ceremony, it was clear Glasgow 2026 was going to do things a little bit differently.
Staging a reimagined Commonwealth Games, with 10 sports taking place within a small stretch of a sports-mad city, it delivered on every level.
The action has been of the very highest standard – and the emotion on display has matched it.
ADVANCE AUSTRALIA FAIR TOPS THE CHARTS
After breaking the 27-year-old Mile world record en route to Glasgow, and with his image plastered across the city, Scotland’s Josh Kerr was billed as the headline act. And he did not disappoint, winning a wild, combative race in front of an ecstatic crowd.
With Flower of Scotland ringing out from Athletics to the pool via the velodrome, Glasgow was clearly ‘All In’ from the start. However, the city will also forever be remembered as the new capital of Australia for a couple of weeks in the summer of 2026.
The green and gold was everywhere. The pool is a habitual paradise for the Aussies but their haul of 37 golds - accompanied by six podium sweeps - was remarkable even by their high standards. With so many champions it is hard to pick a highlight but with four golds, a silver and a bronze Lani Pallister takes a bow.
The Australian dominance did not stop there, with medals hoovered up across all six venues, as they topped the table with 70 gold, 45 silver and 56 bronze.
It was the green of Nigeria, however, which dominated the world record table.
Folashade Oluwafemiayo and Rita Ferdinard notched never-before-seen marks in the Para Powerlifting, while Goodness Nwachukwu threw further than anyone ever in the Women’s F42 Discus.
Meanwhile, 2030 hosts India will also travel home happy. Their Para athletes won an impressive seven medals – three gold – while their dominant boxers claimed seven of 14 titles on offer.
LEGEND LE CLOS
Everywhere you looked, stars bowed out in style at Glasgow 2026, but perhaps foremost among them was Chad le Clos. The South African scooped the 19th, 20th and 21st medals of his extraordinary career to become the most-decorated athlete in Commonwealth Games history.
Canada dazzled in the Artistic Gymnastics, Ellie Black winning Women’s All-Around gold at her sixth Games and Felix Dolci coming away from the Men's events with four golds, a silver and a bronze.
Para Track cyclist Neil Fachie sent the locals crazy as he came out of retirement to end his career - for the second time - with two more Commonwealth golds to take his Games total to seven.
From Wales’ Emma Finucane in the velodrome to Scotland’s Duncan Scott in the pool, and from weightlifting icon Emily Campbell, of England, to Northern Ireland's Heptathlon champion Katherine O'Connor, the home nations fans had plenty to shout about.
MAKING NAMES
Alongside this, a whole host of athletes arrived under the radar but leave as household names.
The 18-year-old Filip Nowacki will certainly no longer be able to walk the streets of Jersey unnoticed. The 18-year-old twice finished ahead of mentor and all-round-swimming-legend Adam Ramsay-Peaty en route to gold and silver medals.
Alongside Nowacki, boxer Isaac Okoh of England will no doubt be seeking Olympic glory in Los Angeles in 2028. Nigeria's Samuel Ogazi, 20, announced himself - and his ambition to be "the greatest athlete ever" - with a dominant 400m track gold, while 18-year-old Seine Stowers of Samoa clearly has the weightlifting world at her feet.
The tears were not, however, solely reserved for champions. The reception given to Olympic great Sir Chris Hoy, at the velodrome named in his honour, was spine-tingling. And nobody could listen to Scottish swimmer Archie Goodburn’s interview about battling brain cancer without reaching for the tissues.
Joy was also unbounded. Jamaica’s reaction to winning their Netball semi-final against Australia – a crazy pile on – will live long in the memory. As will the sight of Para athlete Melanie Woods – recipient of the David Dixon award recognising performance fair play and team contribution – winning the same race twice, the Haka being performed poolside by New Zealand’s double gold medallist Lewis Clareburt and a Tongan two-step thrilling the weightlifting fans.
Don’t you forget about . . . Glasgow 2026
In true Glasgow style, this celebration of sport and humanity ended with a riotous party, as the athletes that wowed the world and the volunteers who made it all possible danced the night away at The Hydro.
Fittingly, the giant Closing Ceremony gig opened with local singer Sandi Thom and tribal drum band Clann An Drumma belting out Proud to be from Scotland from the centre of the Saltire-shaped stage.
A sense of these Games being uniquely Glaswegian and yet joyfully global in outlook ran throughout the 90-minute show. A glorious mash-up of Indian sitars, Scottish whistles and, of course, a host of bagpipes, was an early highlight.
The sounds of India permeated throughout as the baton was handed over to next hosts, Amdavad 2030. The crowd certainly had a lot of love for a wild, all-singing, all-dancing Bollywood-esque production of national song Vande Mataram.
Naturally after all that it was time for a ceilidh - the traditional Gaelic social gathering - which somehow seamlessly blended into N-Trance’s iconic anthem, Set You Free – the words to which were clearly known to every athlete, volunteer, official and spectator.
How to finally close the curtain on two weeks that have reignited the Commonwealth Games?
With Scottish rock royalty, Simple Minds belting out smash hit Don’t You (Forget About Me). Of course.
With that it is farewell to Glasgow 2026… and bring on Amdavad 2030.
REPORT COURTESY OF OFFICIAL COMMONWEALTH GAMES SITE