Commonwealth Games 2026 LIVE: Sad end for former MAFS star who injures leg during last lift; Track cyclists set the pace on first day

Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, are in the crowd for the athletics today.

There is something in the speed of this responsive, fast new Mondo track, as Lachlan Kennedy admitted.

Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan holds the world record in the women’s 100m hurdles with 12.09 secs.

This morning in her first heat here, she ran 12.12s. In a heat!

Aussie javelin thrower Cam McEntyre is through to the finals of the javelin with a best throw of 78.91 metres.

While the sun is out in Glasgow this morning, some competitors still found the conditions chilly, including India’s Neeraj Chopra who sits just above McEntrye after throwing 79.61m, all while wearing a beanie.

Well, our women are already through to the team pursuit gold medal race, and now the men will be there too.

The Australian team of Oliver Bleddyn, Conor Leahy, James Moriarty and Blake Agnoletto finished with a time of 3:48.777. They totally blitzed the finish - they were 0.9 seconds behind then-competition leaders England with 1km to go, but ended up finishing 2.115 seconds ahead of them. They will race England for gold.

Fun fact: Bleddyn and Leahy were part of the Aussie pursuit team who won gold at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, but Australia only won bronze at this event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham (Leahy and Moriarty are the only remaining members of that team).

And, as if Australia weren’t doing enough, our tandem sprinter Jessica Gallagher and pilot Jacqueline Mengher-Mohr are also through to the gold medal match.

They will race New Zealand’s Emma Foy and pilot Jessie Hodges.

Australian lifter and former MAFS contestant Ridge Barredo doesn’t make his final attempt of 190kg and hits the deck.

A sheet is up to stop the crowd from seeing what is going on as he gets attended to by medical officials.

Something to do with his knee potentially.

He’s been down for about a minute but gets back on his feet and walks off disappointed.

Australian team pursuit rider Alyssa Polites has just come through the media zone, following the team’s qualifying ride.

With the best time of the day, they’re straight into the gold medal match where they’ll race New Zealand.

“We were all itching to put a number on, so more excitement that anything,” Polites said.

“It’s a really young team, so it was nice to finally put it on the boards. Happy with it.”

Polites said it was a possibility someone would drop out of the team to make way for Georgia Baker (likely), but said they would “debrief now” and make a decision based on what will give them the fastest ride.

As we get the clean and jerk component started at the weightlifting, can I just say, I am loving the antics of Scotland’s Drew Burns.

Why?

When he manages a successful lift, he celebrates by pointing at the bar with an angry expression.

Australian weightlifter Eileen Cikamatana struggled through days when she wanted to give up and “be a baby in my mum’s arm”.

But the 26-year-old has found consolation after her Paris Olympics heartbreak, bouncing back in Glasgow to win her third Commonwealth Games gold medal.

Cikamatana was a class above in the women’s 86kg event, nailing a 108kg snatch and a 140kg clean and jerk for a Games record total of 248kg.

England’s silver medallist Madias Ngake lifted a total of 239kg, while Canadian teenager Rose Beaudoin (230kg tootal) took bronze.

Our Australian women’s pursuit team - the reigning champions from Birmingham 2022 - progress to the gold medal race later today with flying colours - they’ll face New Zealand, who finished 0.229 seconds behind the Aussies.

The team of Sophie Edwards, Claudia Marcks, Alyssa Polites and Felicity Wilson-Haffenden finished with a time of 4:13.469.

Similar to swimming relays, cycling teams can substitute riders in and out between heats and the finals. Expect Georgia Baker to come into the team for the pursuit final - she was part of the gold winning team in 2022.

Tandem sprint cyclist Jessica Gallagher and pilot Jacqueline Mangher-Mohr are also through to the semi-finals.

UPDATED: Ridge Barredo is in fifth place in the men’s 110kg weightlifting after the snatch component of the event.

He misses his first attempt at 155kg but nails it on the second. He’s very happy with himself.

He didn’t get 162kg at his final attempt.

Barredo missed a chance to be on the TV show Married at First Sight to compete in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022 but was selected for a place on the show the following year.

The clean and jerk section will start shortly with the medallists decided from combing the results of the two components.