The answer, by a distance, is Australia. The Australians won 70 gold medals and 171 medals overall at Glasgow 2026 – 16 more golds than England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland managed combined.
Built in the pool
Swimming did the heavy lifting for Australia, with 37 golds and 76 total medals from the pool alone. Meg Harris led the way with six individual golds, while Sam Short added four of his own. It was enough for Australia to finish top of the athletics, track cycling and 3×3 basketball medal tables as well, spreading their dominance well beyond the pool.
How the rest of the final medal table shaped up
- England finished a clear second with 29 gold, 45 silver and 36 bronze medals.
- Canada took third.
- India rounded out the top four with 39 medals, a campaign explored in full in our India medal tally breakdown.
- Hosts Scotland finished fifth with 13 golds, just ahead of New Zealand in sixth.
Australia’s status as the all-time leader in the Commonwealth Games medal table only strengthened in Glasgow – they already led the historical count heading into these Games, ahead of England and Canada. Individual milestones added to the country’s story too: Rose Davies became the first woman to win both the 5000m and 10,000m at a single Commonwealth Games, and Chad le Clos of South Africa – not Australia, but a frequent rival in the pool – overtook Australian great Emma McKeon as the most decorated Commonwealth Games athlete ever.
For a sport-by-sport look at how these medals were actually won, our roundups of athletics, weightlifting and boxing results all break down individual finals in detail. And if you’re wondering how this compares with past Games, our history of the Commonwealth Games has the full context on past medal leaders too.