India secured fourth place at the Commonwealth Games 2026, held in Glasgow. The number of medals won by India at the Commonwealth Games is 39, comprising 13 gold, 17 silver, and 9 bronze medals. This achievement of India puts it amongst the best four countries at the Commonwealth Games.
The Glasgow Games took place between 23rd July and 2nd August, 2026. The number of games played was much fewer than in other past Commonwealth Games. Some of the games which had previously contributed significantly to India's medal count in the Commonwealth Games, such as wrestling, badminton, table tennis, hockey and shooting,g were absent from the programme. Notwithstanding all these drawbacks, India won 39 medals, finishing fourth overall.
The Indian campaign started with Jhandu Kumar clinching a bronze medal in para-powerlifting. After this, Rishikanta Singh became the first-ever able-bodied Indian medallist at the Games by clinching a silver medal in the men’s 60kg weightlifting discipline. He created a new Commonwealth Games record in the snatch. Mirabai Chanu made her mark very early when she won a gold medal in women’s 48kg weightlifting.
As the Games proceeded further, athletics also turned out to be a significant contributor towards the earning of medals by India. It was especially noteworthy that Gulveer Singh won a silver medal in the 10,000m and a bronze medal in the 5,000m. Thus, Gulveer Singh became the first Indian athlete in track and field disciplines to win two individual medals during one Commonwealth Games edition. Moreover, Tejaswin Shankar also won a bronze medal in the decathlon discipline and, hence, earned India its first medal ever in the Commonwealth Games in this discipline. Neeraj Chopra won a silver medal in men’s javelin throw.
But the most significant achievement of India was in boxing, where Indian boxers managed to win 10 medals w, which included seven gold and three silver medals. Seven gold medals in one sport meant that boxing turned out to be the best contributing factor to India’s total score of medals. These achievements included the victories of Sakshi Chaudhary, Preeti Pawar, Jaismine Lamboria, Priya Ghanghas, Arundhati Choudhary, Sachin Siwach and Ankush Panghal. Also, Lovlina Borgohain contributed with a silver medal.
Judo also provided some historic performances. Asmita Dey won a gold medal and thus became the first Commonwealth Games gold medallist in Judo from India, while Harsh Singh also won a gold medal for India. Yamini Mourya and Unnati Sharma won silver and bronze medals respectively in the sport, and thus India ended up with four medals in judo. Weightlifting remained yet another sport where India managed to get eight medals.
Para-athletes from India were also prominent performers in Glasgow 2026. India won seven medals in total at the Commonwealth Para Games with three gold, two silver, and two bronze medals. It was the best performance by any team from India ever at the Commonwealth Para Games. Para athletics alone contributed six medals, for which India had to wait for twenty years.
One such point came in the latter part of the tournament when India won 16 medals on the second-to-last day. This performance brought India the fourth position before the final day of the tournament. Even though India did not win any more medals on the final day of the tournament, this performance brought India a good enough standing that India remained above Scotland in the medal table. Australia stood first in the final standings, followed by England and Canada, and India stood fourth with 39 medals. Even though India’s medal tally is not up to the mark considering the 61 medals at Birmingham 2022, there is a need to take into account the smaller sporting programme in Glasgow.
India’s Glasgow performance was thus not just about the tally of medals won. Rather, it revealed that the nation is capable of competing successfully even in the absence of several well-established sports forms. Good performances by the Indian boxing, athletics, judo, weightlifting, and para-athletes reflected the increasing diversification in the pool of sporting talent of the nation. With the coming of historic moments and good performances in multiple sport forms, fourth place at Glasgow 2026 will prove positive for Indian sport in the future.
References:
- Olympics.com: India’s complete medal tally and medal winners at Commonwealth Games 2026. Olympics.com: India at Commonwealth Games 2026
- Glasgow 2026 Official Website: India’s record-breaking boxing performance, including seven gold medals. Glasgow 2026: India’s Boxing Performance
- Glasgow 2026 Official Website: India’s overall boxing medal performance, with 10 medals including seven golds. Glasgow 2026 Boxing Results