39 medals, top-five finish: India ends CWG 2026 with several historic firsts

India signed off from the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow with 39 medals — 13 gold, 17 silver and nine bronze. The contingent fell short of the 50-medal mark that India had reached at every Commonwealth Games since 2002.With several medal-rich sports missing from the programme because of financial constraints in hosting the Games — after the event was moved from Victoria in Australia to Glasgow — expectations were lower than in previous editions. Even so, India found success in new events, celebrated new athletes and produced several landmark performances.The contingent did not add to its medal tally on the final day, but the campaign ended with highlights that included a record boxing performance, India's best-ever showing in para sports at the Commonwealth Games, and the country's strongest judo campaign in the history of the event.Weightlifting gave India its first medals of the Games, returning with eight medals — one gold, six silver and one bronze. Mirabai Chanu once again led the way by becoming the first Indian weightlifter to win three successive Commonwealth Games gold medals.India sent 122 athletes to Glasgow, and 38 of them returned with medals, with Gulveer Singh winning two medals. The country finished in the top five of the overall medal table.Although the tally was lower than the 61 medals won at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, India had sent a much larger contingent of 210 athletes then. In Glasgow, around 31% of the contingent won medals, compared to 29% in Birmingham.India's performance by sport3x3 BasketballMedals: 0India's four-member women's wheelchair basketball team created history by becoming the country's first para team in the sport to qualify for the Commonwealth Games. They finished at the bottom of their group.Artistic GymnasticsMedals: 0Among the eight Indian gymnasts, only Tapan Mohanty and Protistha Samanta reached event finals. India has now gone three Commonwealth Games without a gymnastics medal since its last one in 2014.AthleticsMedals: 10India's 32-member athletics squad returned with 10 medals — five silver and five bronze.Neeraj Chopra settled for silver in the javelin throw, while debutant Yash Vir Singh joined him on the podium with bronze. Tejaswin Shankar became the first Indian to win a Commonwealth Games decathlon medal despite competing with an injury. Gulveer Singh completed a historic distance-running campaign by winning silver in the 10,000m and bronze in the 5000m.Para AthleticsMedals: 6India's 11 para athletes won six medals, making it one of the country's strongest-performing contingents. The medals came from three events, with India recording three double podium finishes, including two one-two finishes.BowlsMedals: 0After winning gold and silver in Birmingham four years ago, India's six-member bowls team returned without a medal.BoxingMedals: 10India's boxers delivered the country's biggest success of the Games, winning 10 medals — seven gold and three silver. Ten of the 14 boxers in the squad reached the podium, improving the medal conversion rate from 58% in Birmingham to 71% in Glasgow.World champion Jaismine Lamboria won gold, while Sakshi Chaudhary continued her rise after earlier defeating two world champions in domestic competition. Preeti Pawar, Ankush Panghal, Sachin Siwach, Arundhati Choudhary and Priya Ghanghas also won gold medals. Lovlina Borgohain, Jadumani Singh and Narender Berwal finished with silver medals.JudoMedals: 4India's judokas enjoyed their best Commonwealth Games campaign, returning with four medals, including two gold medals.Para PowerliftingMedals: 1India's seven-member para powerlifting team arrived with high expectations, but many athletes lifted below their personal bests. Jhandu Kumar was the only Indian to win a medal.SwimmingMedals: 0Competing against strong teams such as Australia, India's swimmers did not win a medal and most finished below their best timings.Para SwimmingMedals: 0India did not win a medal in para swimming.Track CyclingMedals: 0India's track cyclists, including Ronaldo Singh Laitonjam and David Beckham Elkatohchoongo, again finished without a medal.Para Track CyclingMedals: 0Sixteen-year-old Lisha Das competed without the support she needed after administrative delays left her without a female chaperone and without her aerodynamic suit. She was the youngest athlete at the Games and received strong support from the Glasgow crowd.WeightliftingMedals: 8India won eight medals in weightlifting. Only three of the 10 medal-winning lifters from Birmingham returned to compete in Glasgow.India's weightlifting programme continues to face challenges because of doping cases, which led to the country's quota being reduced from 16 athletes to 11.Mirabai Chanu won gold once again, while Rishikanta Singh, Ajaya Babu and Lovepreet Singh set Commonwealth Games records in the snatch event. Gyaneshwari Yadav set a new national record on her way to winning a silver medal.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.