Commonwealth Games chief admit this will “a different kind of games”

By Hannah Kennelly

The last time the Commonwealth Games were in Glasgow, things looked a little different.

The year was 2014 and the Games were a roaring success – a program with 17 sports, a gigantic global audience and record-breaking ticket sales.

In 2026, Glasgow are hosting once again after Victoria pulled the plug, agreeing to facilitate a small-scale version with a reduced roster and no athletes village – costing about $300 million.

As Glasgow Commonwealth Games chief Phil Batty notes, this will be “a different kind of games.”

But the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony seems as popular among musicians as a Trump inauguration. For example, the Games has an “official DJ” and somehow it’s not even Scottish superstar Calvin Harris – it’s Outlander actor Sam Heughan, and he’s not even performing at the opening ceremony. (He’s stepping behind the decks the next day, at the first medal session.)

Leading the opening ceremony are such high-profile names as – checks notes – Tom Walker, Nina Nesbitt, Nathan Evans and Saint PHNX. In the ever-useful words of Mariah Carey, I don’t know her.

But someone we do all know? KT Tunstall is here! If she doesn’t perform Suddenly I See – aka the song from The Devil Wears Prada – I’m turning off my TV. (I jest, my TV isn’t even on.)

You can only imagine what Melbourne would’ve done with this opening ceremony. Kylie Minogue! Amyl and the Sniffers! King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard!

After undergoing major surgery to repair a hamstring that tore three times in six weeks, the Olympic and Commonwealth Games pole vault champion questioned whether she could get back to her best, or better.

Now, not only will Kennedy be defending her gold medal from Birmingham in 2022, she will also lead the Australian team out at the Glasgow opening ceremony, after chef de mission Petria Thomas named Kennedy the nation’s flag bearer alongside swimmer Tim Hodge, who will be Australia’s inaugural baton bearer.

“Each of them has longevity, character and humility, and the support of the whole Australian sporting community behind them,” Thomas said.

4.15am

Welcome

By

Rise and shine Australia, it’s time for the Commonwealth Games.

Yes, it’s been a bumpy ride to get here, but the 2026 Games are finally under way with the opening ceremony at The Hydro along the River Clyde this morning.

Billie Eder and Hannah Kennelly here on the ground in Glasgow to bring you all the updates from the ceremony, with Bronte Gossling pitching in from the Sydney bureau.

Things officially kick-off at 5am AEDT (8pm for any of our friends in Glasgow), but we have plenty of previews and news to bring you until then.