Glasgow 2026 Day 1: Highlights from the first day at the Commonwealth Games

It's been an incredible start to Glasgow 2026 following on from the packed-out opening ceremony held at The Hydro last evening, July 23. But with so much to watch it can be hard to keep track of the action, but fear not, we've put together highlights of some of the best moments from the first day of the Commonwealth Games 2026.

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Nigeria tops early medal table

Thanks to the world-breaking effort of Nigerian para powerlifting duo Esther Nworgu and Esther Oyema, Nigeria topped the early medal table on the first day of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games. Another medal was grabbed by Men's Lightweight category as Roland Ezuruike who took home silver in the Men's lightweight. 

Nigeria's second most successful attendance at the Commonwealth Games was actually recorded the last time they came to Glasgow back in 2014, where they nabbed 36 medals, just one less than their most successful performance at Victoria in 1994. Could Nigeria be set for another top 3 performance? With such an explosive start it certainly seems likely.

Scotland's first medal comes in the pool - and it's gold!

Fan favourite Duncan Scott OBE broke a Games Record today when he won Scotland's first gold medal the Men's 200m Individual Medley with a time of 1:56.38.

It's an encouraging start to the Scot's performance in his home country, as the swimmer is considered to be Scotland's most successful Commonwealth Games athlete. Now with Glasgow 2026 featuring the largest ever Swimming programme at the Commonwealth Games, many hope that the 29-year-old will bring home more silverware for the host country.

The first medal of Glasgow 2026

English powerlifter Mark Swan won the first gold medal of Glasgow 2026, in the Men’s Lightweight. Swan hadn’t initially realised he’d won the gold, after failing on his final lift.  

"I came back off the third lift and I actually thought, 'Well, I've got bronze'," Swan said. "My coach said, 'Oh, good job on gold'. I was like, 'Yeah?'. It didn't make any sense. I thought they were winding me up."

The Men's Lightweight category pulled in athletes with a body weight up to and including 72kg. A coefficient formula was used to score lifts fairly against the athletes' individual body weight, and Swan was ultimately handed the gold by virtue of the second decimal point in the scoring, which was not visible on the results screen.

"I knew it was going to be a battle, but it's just hit me by a massive surprise that I actually won," Swan said. "It is just starting to sink in. It's absolutely amazing and incredible."

Malaysia's Bonnie Bunyau Gustin - the two-time Paralympic champion and world record holder at up to 72kg - was only 0.4 points behind in third but also could not produce on his final lift, relinquishing the title he won in Birmingham four years ago.

Australia's Men off to a winning start in 3x3 Basketball

Silver medallists at Birmingham 2022, Australia Men's 3x3 Basketball team got their bid to go one better this time off to a successful start with a hard-fought win against trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand, pulling away in the final three minutes to make it 21-15.

The Wombats hope to make an even bigger show this time round following on from their performance at Birmingham 2022 where they took home silver. The Australians have taken home gold for basketball five times since the sport was included in the Commonwealth back in 2006.

Day 1 and world records are already being broken

An incredible performance was put forward by Nigerian Para Powerlifter today as she set a world record (twice) in the Women's +86kg category. The 41-year-old lifted 172kg, followed by 175kg, netting her home country the gold.

She was followed by teammate, Rita Ferdinand, who in turn broke a world record in the women's +79kg category lifting 158kg to take silver for Nigeria.

For the full competition schedule and results, click here.