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What do athletes think about Glasgow 2026?

Eilish McColgan, Jake Wightman and Kirsty GilmourGetty Images

Eilish McColgan, Jake Wightman and Kirsty Gilmour spoke about the prospects for Glasgow 2026

A scaled-back Commonwealth Games is coming to Glasgow in 2026.

Ten sports will be on the reduced programme, meaning it will be a smaller spectacle compared to the last time the event came to Scotland in 2014.

Despite that, many of Scotland's top athletes are in favour of the Games being back in Glasgow, as BBC Sport Scotland discovered.

Joy of representing Scotland

For many, the Commonwealth Games remains the only championships during which they can represent the nation rather than be part of a wider Great Britain team.

Former 1500m world champion Jake Wightman said the loss of that opportunity would be "one of the saddest" things about the Games ceasing to exist.

"We rarely get the chance to and it's always a nice chance for us to give back to Scotland and what they have done to develop us," he added.

Eilish McColgan, a 10,000m gold medallist at the 2022 Games in Birmingham, said it was "incredible" to be part of the 2014 edition in Glasgow.

"I felt proud to be from Scotland - having heard all the athletes from so many different nations say how much they enjoyed coming to Glasgow, the atmosphere and how friendly everyone was," McColgan said.

"There's nothing like having that crowd behind you," said two-time bton medallist Kirsty Gilmour, whose sport will miss out this time.

And Olympic medal-winning track cyclist Neah Evans revealed the last Glasgow Games was the reason she got into cycling.

"If there hadn’t been a velodrome in Glasgow I probably would have never tried it," she said.

"So I wonder who else could be inspired from the Commonwealth Games coming back"Graphic image of, from left to right, Alex Albon, George Russell, Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso and Oliver Bearman. It is on a blue background with 'Fan Q&A' below the drivers " loading="lazy" src="https://image.staticox.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fichef.bbci.co.uk%2Face%2Fstandard%2F480%2Fsprodpb%2F7ff9%2Flive%2Fd42302e0-34b3-11f0-8519-3b5a01ebe413.jpg" width="385" height="216" class="ssrcss-11yxrdo-Image edrdn950"/>

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