"VAN" (Sports Desk - 15.04.2026) :: With 100 days to go until Glasgow 2026 gets underway, Britain's fastest ever woman has confirmed she is excited for the Commonwealth Games to return to the city this summer, as Glasgow 2026 confirms that just 26,000 Athletics tickets remain, with tickets for the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome and Tollcross Swimming Pool virtually sold out.
Scotstoun Stadium is set to host a stellar line-up of Olympic, Paralympic, World and European champions across six days of Athletics and Para Athletics from 27 July to 1 August, as part of a Games that will bring together 3,000 of the world's best athletes from across the Commonwealth competing across ten sports and six Para sports.
Dina Asher-Smith, the current European 200m champion and fastest British woman in history over the distance, is set to light up the sprint programme at Glasgow 2026. The 200m final on 31 July promises to be one of the evenings of the Games, but all eyes will also be on the 100m on 28 July, where Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia will be looking to go one better than the silver she claimed at Birmingham 2022. The reigning Olympic 100m champion arrives in Glasgow with unfinished business, and should Asher-Smith double up, the stage is set for one of the most compelling sprint rivalries in the world to play out on home soil.
Asher-Smith said: "I am really excited and I am definitely aiming to be at both the Europeans and the Commonwealth Games, mostly because it's going to be so much fun. You are going to see a lot of talented athletes come out and perform, from all across the world. From the Caribbean nations to the African nations and all across the Commonwealth, I think there are going to be some incredible performances. I think we're also going to have a lot of Scottish newcomers as well, so you should definitely come and support."
Alfred, who first won a World Indoor title in Glasgow, is equally eager to return. She said: "I'm excited to go back and I'm looking forward to Glasgow 2026. I want to add to my collection of medals and the Commonwealth title is very much one I would like to add as I try to build a legacy so that when I do one day step away from the track, people will say I accomplished everything I possibly could."
The sprint battles will not be confined to the women's events. Oblique Seville, the reigning world 100m champion and current world number one, brings the star power of the fastest man on the planet to Scotstoun; the first Jamaican to hold the world title over the distance since Usain Bolt. He takes to the track on 27 July for the 100m heats, with the final the following evening.
In the middle and long distances, the home nations will field some of the finest British athletes of their generation. Eilish McColgan, Commonwealth 10,000m champion, four-time Olympian and Glasgow 2026 Games Ambassador, returns to the city where her Commonwealth story began when competition gets underway on 27 July, carrying British and European records, and the hopes of a home crowd.
Georgia Hunter Bell, the reigning world indoor 1500m champion and 800m world silver medallist, has already declared Glasgow a venue close to her heart, with her eyes set on adding a first Commonwealth title to her extensive medal collection. Edinburgh's Jake Wightman, the 2022 world 1500m champion and 2025 world silver medallist, lines up alongside fellow Scots Josh Kerr and Neil Gourley in what is shaping up to be one of the strongest distance running line-ups Scotland has ever produced on home soil. Kerr, the former world 1500m champion, arrives having targeted a world mile record earlier in the season and will be among the favourites when the iconic Commonwealth Mile makes its long-awaited return on 1 August. Gourley, fresh from world indoor silver, completes a Scottish middle-distance trio that will take some beating.
The international field extends well beyond the sprints. Australia's Nina Kennedy, the reigning Olympic and Commonwealth pole vault champion, is confirmed for Glasgow, while India's Neeraj Chopra, former Olympic, World and Commonwealth javelin champion, is expected to make a return to the Games, adding world-class field event depth to an already formidable line-up.
Glasgow 2026 will also showcase the very best of Para Athletics, with Wales' Olivia Breen among those set to compete. A two-time Commonwealth champion, winning long jump gold at Gold Coast 2018 and 100m gold at Birmingham 2022, as well as a world champion and four-time Paralympian, said: “While competing with Great Britain is special, nothing beats competing for Wales, it’s something else.”
Breen, who will be returning to Glasgow Commonwealth Games 12 years after making her debut in 2014, added: “The Commonwealth Games is such a special event as well because the Para events really help with publicity and inspiring the next generation,” continues Breen. “It’s important to highlight how sport can help people with disabilities and I’m grateful to have these opportunities. Glasgow was my first Commonwealth Games when I was just 17-18 and now to be going back at the age of 30 is really exciting.”
Phil Batty OBE, Chief Executive of Glasgow 2026, said: "One hundred days to go and the response from the public has been incredible. With just 26,000 tickets remaining in Athletics and the velodrome and pool virtually sold out, not to mention an incredible buzz around the SEC with six sports in action on one campus, the message is simple: if you want to be there, now is the time to act.
“We have some of the biggest names in world Athletics confirmed to compete at Scotstoun this summer. From some of the fastest men and women on the planet to a Scottish distance running line-up that will be the envy of the sport, this is going to be a remarkable ten days for Glasgow and for Scotland, and we want as many people as possible in those stands to be part of it."
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