Team Scotland announce first three athletes for Commonwealth Games

Team Scotland has announced its first three athletes for next year’s Commonwealth Games.

Jake Wightman, Neil Gourley, and Megan Keith have all been confirmed for the games being held in Glasgow in nine months’ time.

The trio were Scotland’s top performers at the recent World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

Keith will make her Commonwealth Games debut in the 10,000m, while Wightman and Gourley will take part in the Commonwealth Mile, which is making a return to the games for the first time since 1966 in place of the 1500m.

Wightman will be appearing at the games for a fourth time and won bronze medals in 2018 and 2022, when he also took gold in the World Championships and bronze in the European Championships.

His silver in Japan last month was a welcome return to form after battling back from injury.

Wightman is also the only one of the trio to have competed at the Commonwealth Games the last time they were in Glasgow, 11 years ago.

He said: “It feels amazing to be selected for Team Scotland for Glasgow 2026.

“It’s nice to be selected 10 months early too, which gives us time to build our preparation into this winter, through spring and into the summer season and the Games.

“To be the first athletes selected in what is going to be a huge team is pretty cool. A home Games is going to be really special, I thought Glasgow 2014 was going to be my only experience, so to get the chance to come back to Glasgow and compete at another one is fantastic.

“This time I’m a better athlete, much more experienced and wiser, so I hope I can get out there and do my best for Scotland and get on that podium.

“The Glasgow fans are going to be really important, I hope that all the fans, especially the Scottish ones are going to be roaring us home!”

Gourley made his Team Scotland debut at Birmingham 2022, finishing 8th in the 1500m final. Since then, he has won silver at both the 2023 European Indoor Championships and 2025 World Indoor Championships, as well as making the 1500m final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

He said: “It means a lot more than it probably has done before. There have been two occasions where I’ve been selected to compete in Glasgow, only to be taken out by illness, and the other by injury.

“Both were devastating in their own ways, so I’m going to have to put that right this time.

“I’m incredibly proud that I’ll get to represent Scotland in my home city. I might not get the opportunity again, so this is a special one.

Since a switch from orienteering, where she was a World Junior champion, Keith has been a rising star in athletics. She won three consecutive individual medals at the U20 and U23 levels at the European Cross Country Championships before getting into her stride on the track.

She won the 5,000m gold at the 2023 European U23 Championships, which was followed by a first senior medal over 10,000m at the European Championships and selection for the Olympic Games in 2024.

Ready to make her Commonwealth Games debut next summer, she said: “Competing for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games is going to be very special.

“I’ve watched the Commonwealth Games on TV for years, and I wanted to go and see it when it was in Glasgow 11 years ago, but we didn’t manage to get tickets.

“It’s not something I ever dreamed about competing at myself, but for me, the Commonwealth Games is always so much cooler than the Olympics or other events because everyone is competing in their Scotland vests.

“It’s not often we get the opportunity as senior athletes to compete for Scotland, then on home soil as well. I don’t get to race in Scotland as much as I would like, so the combination of doing both in Glasgow next summer will be a really cool moment for me. I can’t wait.”