Why Was Weightlifting Nearly Cut From The Commonwealth Games

Whilst touch-and-go for years, the 2026 Commonwealth Games began in late July 2026, and whilst the Olympic-grade weight plates were ready for competition in Glasgow, it very nearly was not to be.

Both weightlifting and the Commonwealth Games have had a rough 2020s so far, mired in difficulties, controversies and concerns about their long-term futures, and both challenges interlinked to make Glasgow’s premier weightlifting competition a minor miracle.

Why is this? The first place to start is why the Commonwealth Games even took place in Glasgow, why that put weightlifting at risk of being cut, and what happened to reduce the status of the sport up until its glorious return to form.

Why Did The 2026 Commonwealth Games Take Place In Glasgow?

The 23rd Commonwealth Games will be the second to take place in Glasgow, which hosted the event just 12 years ago in 2014, but this was far from the original plan, and the results sent shockwaves through the sporting world.

Originally, Birmingham was set to host the 2026 Games, but these plans changed as early as 2017; The South African city of Durban was set to host in 2022, but due to financial issues, they lost the rights to host the Games, and Birmingham took their place.

This left an empty slot which was initially filled by the Australian state of Victoria in 2022, who had grand plans to spread the events beyond Melbourne. Fifteen months later, they withdrew, leading to a mad scramble throughout the British Commonwealth to find a suitable replacement.

Glasgow was the bid of last resort, with hopes that bids from Malaysia, Singapore or Ghana would prove fruitful. None of them did, and so it was announced that Glasgow would host the Commonwealth Games, with weightlifting taking place in the SEC Armadillo.

What Did The Relocation Of The Commonwealth Games Mean For Weightlifting?

Ultimately, the biggest change for weightlifting was the venue change to the SEC Armadillo; the 2026 Commonwealth Games were organised to run with as few unnecessary expenses as possible, so existing venues were reused, repurposed or renovated rather than built for the event.

The weight classes have changed to keep them broadly in line with the IWF’s changes in May 2025, but the 176 lifters equally split by gender is roughly similar to the numbers seen in 2022.

However, the emergency nature of the arrangements meant that this was not necessarily a guarantee that weightlifting would have remained in its present form or even have been included at all.

Just ten events (six with Para sport elements) were retained, with mainstays such as diving, badminton, squash, hockey, triathlon, road cycling and even wrestling being cut, as was the marathon.

Given the popularity of the sports that were removed from the lineup, weightlifting was lucky to stay, not least because of the events that nearly saw it removed from the 2024 Olympic Games.

Could Weightlifting Have Been Cut From The Commonwealth Games?

Amidst the chaos surrounding the 2026 Commonwealth Games, weightlifting also faced an existential crisis catalysed by a German documentary in 2020, which opened a Pandora’s Box of controversy and corruption.

At the centre of it was former IWF president Tamas Ajan, who was ultimately charged and convicted by the Court of Arbitration for Sport for tampering with anti-doping processes, fraudulent conduct and complicity in a systemic failure in governance over the course of two decades.

Such was the extreme nature of the allegations against Mr Ajan and the IWF that the International Olympic Committee removed weightlifting from the 2028 Games in Los Angeles and threatened to drop the sport entirely unless significant reforms were made.

This led to significant shifts in governance, figures such as Mr Ajan being banned for life and an independent anti-doping regime being established and operated by the International Testing Agency.

Weightlifting was cut in half in 2024, with just 10 weight categories (five per gender) and 122 athletes. This has increased to 12 categories for 2028, although exactly how many athletes will compete remains to be seen.

If weightlifting was removed from the Olympic Games, 2028 would have been the first Olympics in over a century to not feature the event, the IWF would not have received vital Olympic funding to run its own World Championships, and the sport may have faced a much lower profile.

With regards to the Commonwealth Games, the loss of prestige and profile caused by the controversies could have left it in a position where Glasgow 2026 could have cut it for cost-saving purposes, although it thankfully did not come to that in the end.