The Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games brought 74 nations and territories together across 10 sports, with athletics and para-athletics taking centre stage at Scotstoun Stadium from July 27 to August 1.
SprintFastest representatives were live at the games, watching the action unfold at Scotstoun alongside thousands of fans and millions more watching around the world. Being there felt so good; we were watching some of the world’s best athletes compete on a track that is also part of the journey for young athletes across Scotland, the same kind of athletes we hope to see lining up at SprintFastest.
Team Scotland’s athletics squad included Olympic and world medallists alongside athletes competing for the first time. The 39-strong squad featured standout names including Laura Muir, Jake Wightman, Jemma Reekie, Eilish McColgan, Megan Keith, Neil Gourley, Alyson Bell, and para-athletics champions such as Ben Sandilands and Owen Miller. And then there was Josh Kerr.
Just days before the Games, the Edinburgh-born Scot had broken a 27-year-old men’s mile world record in London, running 3:42.66 and taking down Hicham El Guerrouj’s 3:43.13 mark from 1999.
His story was a full-circle moment and one that young athletes need to see. Ahead of Glasgow 2026, Kerr revealed that he still has a childhood T-shirt at home that reads: “Scottish Commonwealth Games hopeful.” He had been part of youth development programmes and had competed at Scotstoun as a young athlete.
In the men’s Commonwealth Mile final, Kerr delivered another memorable performance in front of a home crowd, surging clear late in the race to take the title. The lesson isn’t that every young athlete will become a world record holder. It’s that every great athlete was once a young athlete with somewhere to start.
Scottish Athletics has also pointed to the strength of Scotland’s development pathway, noting the programmes and support available to developing athletes as they progress towards senior level. This matters because young athletes need to see what is possible.
A young sprinter watching Alyson Bell compete in the 200m might see someone closer to their own event and think: Maybe I could do that one day. A young para-athlete watching Ben Sandilands or Owen Miller compete at the highest level might see another pathway into the sport.
We talk a lot about speed, but watching the Commonwealth Games brought something else home: speed is the accumulation of every hard choice, every unglamorous training session and the character built along the way.
At SprintFastest, we want young athletes to experience that electric feeling much closer to home. The Commonwealth Games have just raised the bar, giving Scotland 11 unforgettable days of world-class sport. And while the Games may now be over, the inspiration continues.
Our eyes are already fixed on October 3, 2026, when we bring Scotland’s young sprinting talent together for the SprintFastest All-Star Indoor Championship at the Glasgow International Arena.
We’ve been asking our All-Star athletes what keeps them motivated, what they’re working towards, and what they hope to experience on the track. Their answers have been inspiring: new personal bests, reaching new goals, continuing to improve, and simply making the most of the competition while having fun.
After watching the world’s best athletes light up Glasgow, we can’t wait to see Scotland’s next generation take their turn.
- Date: October 3, 2026
- Venue: Glasgow International Arena
- Event: SprintFastest All-Star Indoor Championship 2026
To every young athlete: keep going, keep training, keep racing, keep chasing that next PB and keep showing up. For the Love of Speed.