Every edition of the Commonwealth Games produces at least one result nobody saw coming. Glasgow 2026 delivered several.
A defending champion falls short
The biggest shock came in the men’s javelin, where Paris 2024 Olympic champion and Birmingham 2022 gold medallist Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan failed to progress past the top-eight cut, eventually finishing ninth with a best throw of 77.41m – well below his own Games record of 90.18m. Instead, Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage produced the throw of his life, 89.75m, to claim a completely unexpected gold, Sri Lanka’s first athletics gold at the Games since 2006. India’s Neeraj Chopra took silver, with debutant Yash Vir Singh grabbing bronze – full detail in our India medal tally coverage.
India’s winning streak broken – by a heartfelt underdog
In boxing, Australia’s Jye Dixon ended what had looked like an unstoppable Indian run in the men’s categories, beating Jadumani Singh Mandengbam in the 55kg final. Dixon was visibly emotional on the podium, a reminder that even in the middle of a record-breaking Indian boxing campaign, not every final went the hosts’ way for India.
Age was just a number
Perhaps the most feel-good surprise came away from the biggest arenas, where 76-year-old Louise Hoskins became the oldest gold medallist in Commonwealth Games history, part of a record 141 para-sport medals awarded in Glasgow.
A photo-finish bronze
Yash Vir Singh’s javelin bronze was itself a mini-upset within an upset – he leapfrogged more experienced throwers, including former world champion Anderson Peters, with a personal-best final-round throw of 85.41m, sealing the medal by just 42 centimetres.
These moments sit alongside the records broken during the Games as proof that even a slimmed-down, ten-sport Commonwealth Games can still produce genuine drama. For every heavily-favoured champion who delivered as expected, there was another whose Games ended in disbelief – which is exactly why fans keep coming back to watch.