Quotes of the Games: Glasgow 2026

Some of the most effective quotes from the final 10 days at Glasgow 2026.

South Africa‘s third place within the closing occasion of the Swimming programme, the Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay, earned Chad le Clos (pictured) his twenty first Commonwealth medal, making him the most-decorated athlete within the historical past of the Games: 

“To stand alone in historical past is unbelievable. Four years in the past I wanted another, then Emma (McKeon, Australian swimmer) got here previous me and I believed, ‘Damn, now I would like three extra’. … I used to be nervous. I used to be shaking on the blocks … emotionally it is most likely the toughest factor.

“Every time I stand up for a ultimate, I deal with it like a gladiator going to struggle. I actually put my soul into it. Even now I’m drained as a result of it looks like a weight has been lifted.

“I take it very seriously. I’d tell my younger self to stop and smell the roses a bit more. Enjoy the journey. Sometimes I’ve glided past these 21 medals without really appreciating them. I’ve never cried over a bronze medal. But it meant so much to me, and I think that’s beautiful. And hey, in four years’ time, maybe 22. We’ll see.”  

Niue boxer De Niro Pao, all smiles regardless of shedding the most effective battle of 24 July’s first session in opposition to Lesotho’s Pooana Khoahli, defined how he acquired his uncommon first identify:

“Robert De Niro is my mum’s favourite actor, so she named me after him, and it’s funny because that’s my granddad’s favourite actor too. He always tells me about (the movie) Raging Bull, I’ve never seen it though.”

Daniel Bos, actor and males’s light-weight lifter from Australia, might have appeared in Hollywood motion pictures however he was misplaced for phrases after stepping out to compete within the Men’s Lightweight Para Powerlifting, offered by Amul: 

“The whole atmosphere here, the crowd, that was crazy. That gave me a massive adrenaline rush. It’s really surreal because you sort of have these little moments on stage where I’m like … ‘This is it now. We’re here’.”

A tearful Adam Ramsay-Peaty seemed to be contemplating his future after putting third within the Men’s 100m Breaststroke ultimate. The England swimmer mentioned:

“For me at 31 years outdated with a second youngster on the best way, I’ve acquired choices to make. It’s so onerous to show down household occasions as a result of it’s important to prepare. It must be for one thing. I chase excellence, that was not excellence and there’s quite a bit going by way of my head proper now.

Namibia’s Anne-Leen Thorburn and her sister Jonie Thorburn have been acclimatising to the Glasgow climate forward of their Commonwealth Games debut within the Women’s Gymnastics, offered by Longines. Anne-Leen mentioned: 

“If you see us in our massive raincoats, we give you permission to laugh. They only had one-size-fits-all raincoats and we’re quite tiny people, so we’re kind of stumbling over them while we’re walking. But you have full permission from us to laugh at us, we come from a sunny place.”

Gymnast Reuben Ward will always remember the native assist on the Glasgow International Arena, after he received Scotland‘s first-ever All-Around gold medal in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics, offered by Longines:

“Everyone was jumping around me, screaming and celebrating. That was so special. It was a wave of emotions I’d never experienced before. Then standing in front of the crowd with my flag, just living in the moment and loving it. Running around giving people high fives felt so surreal. Everyone wanted to high five me, and I loved it. It was great.”

Gymnast Tiana Sumanasekera has switched allegiance from the USA to Sri Lanka, the nation of her mother and father’ beginning, and has been relishing her time in Glasgow on the Commonwealth Games:

“It was my first Opening Ceremony ever, so I will always remember that. It’s something I’ve tattooed in my brain because it was just so incredible. I’ve met such incredible people, and it’s an experience that I will remember forever.” 

With a inhabitants of about 12,000, Nauru is the smallest sovereign member state within the Commonwealth of Nations – and the third smallest nation on the planet – however Ezekiel Moses is dreaming large after his bronze medal within the Men’s 71kg Weightlifting, offered by Amul.

”I’ve been chasing my dream for a very long time and I received’t cease right here, I’m going to maintain going till I get gold. They (folks in Nauru) maintain waking up in the course of the evening to observe me, see my success and my outcomes. I hope they’re having a celebration proper now.”

Husnah Kukundakwe hopes her silver medal within the Women’s 100m Breaststroke SB8 ultimate, Uganda‘s first time on the rostrum at Glasgow 2026, results in extra assist again house for Para Swimming: 

“I think it’s definitely going to bring huge change. I hope it leads to more government funding for Para sport. Swimming isn’t a sport that’s particularly well supported in Uganda, so taking this medal home shows that our Swimming team and our Para sport team have so much potential to make the country proud. I’m really passionate about creating change, and I’m looking forward to seeing the impact this medal can have.”

After successful the Men’s 100m Freestyle to proceed his nation’s dominance within the pool, Flynn Southam highlights another issues Australians are good at.

“People say Aussies don’t have culture. I beg to differ. I can’t wait to be back home, crack open a cold beer, and go for a fish and a surf on the beach. I think that’s what it means to represent Australia.”

After successful the Men’s Vault and Horizontal Bar for Canada, inventive gymnast Felix Dolci can be leaving Glasgow with 4 gold medals, a silver and a bronze. Reason sufficient to rejoice…?

“Hell, yeah. A couple of beers, some great food, a little dessert, why not?”

Jasmine Daunakamakama secured Fiji‘s first-ever Commonwealth Games Women’s Boxing medal and was eager to attribute her victory to her tradition and the religious perception in ‘mana’, shared throughout Melanesian and Polynesian communities:

“I believe there’s two sides of us. There’s an internal war inside all of us where we’re constantly fighting between the ego and our true self, which is the spirit, and so, the mana is the will to overcome the fears because the fears is what’s not real.”

Scotland‘s world-record holder Josh Kerr minimize an extremely relaxed determine after breezing by way of his warmth within the Men’s Mile on Wednesday morning:

“I kind of thrive in the pressure environment. I want as much pressure on me as possible. I’m here to show up and get a gold medal for Scotland, and hopefully we can put more people on the podium than just me.”

Catherine Papani on how she and husband Keith Papani, who can also be competing for Niue at Glasgow 2026, took up Bowls:

“(Me) coming off netball and Keith coming off rugby, we decided in 2013 to start playing lawn bowls because it’s a bit gentler on the knees. In 2014, we were actually here in Glasgow at the Commonwealth Games representing Niue… our girls have been playing a little bit of bowls… their dad’s quite competitive, so they’ve kind of shied away for now.”

Chloe Dunbar, moments after claiming silver behind her Canadian teammate Sheriauna Haase within the Women’s 100m T47:

“I used to run with my prosthetic because I was nervous about what people would think about my image, and then I’ve seen Sherry running without her arm and being confident of who she was, so that’s now made me become the person that I am today – especially in Athletics.”

Tarona Taafaki has put Tuvalu on the map by successful their first ever Commonwealth Games medal, bronze within the Women’s 75kg Boxing. Now most of us simply have to get the map out:

“Probably 95% of the audience don’t know where my country is.”

After successful gold within the Men’s 400m, it is honest to say Nigeria’s Samuel Ogazi is setting his profession sights excessive:

“Maybe an Olympic gold, a world championship gold, become the greatest athlete ever. That’s what I’m working towards.” 

Given that they arrive from three islands separated by 3200km of South Atlantic Ocean, it is honest to say the St Helena Men’s 4x100m Relay crew’s preparation was all a bit ‘final minute’, defined certainly one of them, Tye Leo-Stroud:

“Well, the training experience we had was when we all got together at the Games. Before this, we’d never actually met.”

Despite lacking out on a medal, Scottish Judo nice Sarah Adlington bowed out on a optimistic observe:

“I didn’t have any female role models growing up so if I can inspire one young girl to take up sport, knowing that people of all shapes and sizes can succeed, I’ll be happy.”