Mirabai Chanu, Lovlina Borgohain to lead India at CWG 2026 opening ceremony

Olympic medallists Mirabai Chanu and Lovlina Borgohain will lead India at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on July 23, adding another chapter to their illustrious careers.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) confirmed on Saturday that the accomplished athletes will carry the national flag and serve as baton bearer during the opening ceremony at the OVO Hydro. The duo will lead India’s 126-member contingent as the country begins its campaign at the multi-sport event.

Announcing the decision, IOA president PT Usha said: “It is a matter of pride Mirabai and Lovlina will be doing the honours at the OVO Hydro. I wish both the girls and the entire contingent good luck.”

The honour is a fitting tribute to two athletes who have consistently excelled on the biggest stages. Mirabai won silver in the women’s 49kg event at the Tokyo Olympics, becoming only the second Indian weightlifter to claim an Olympic medal. Lovlina, meanwhile, secured bronze in Tokyo to become just the third Indian boxer to stand on an Olympic podium.

FROM TOKYO TRIUMPH TO GLASGOW GLORY

For Mirabai, Glasgow offers another opportunity to add to an already glittering Commonwealth Games record. The Manipuri star won gold in Birmingham in 2022 after topping the podium at the Gold Coast Games four years earlier. Her achievements also extend to the World Championships, where she clinched gold in 2017 and added multiple podium finishes in subsequent editions.

After narrowly missing out on a medal at the Paris Olympics, Mirabai heads to Glasgow determined to return to the top. The 31-year-old remains one of the biggest names in Indian sport and has spearheaded the country’s weightlifting success for nearly a decade.

Lovlina, too, arrives in Scotland with an impressive resume. The boxer from Assam has enjoyed a remarkable rise since making the switch from kickboxing at a young age. Since her Olympic breakthrough in Tokyo, she has captured gold at the 2023 World Championships and silver at the Asian Games in Hangzhou later that year.

Unlike Mirabai, however, Lovlina is still chasing her first Commonwealth Games medal. The 27-year-old will view the tournament as an opportunity to complete an already impressive collection of honours and further cement her status among India’s finest athletes.

The Commonwealth Games, which run from July 23 to August 2, will bring together competitors from across the Commonwealth in one of the biggest sporting events of the year. With Mirabai and Lovlina leading the contingent, India’s campaign begins with two of its most celebrated champions at the forefront.

LIST OF INDIAN ATHLETES AT COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2026

3x3 BASKETBALL

• Reena Rameshchandra Gupta - Women's Wheelchair
• Irengbam Ritu Chanu - Women's Wheelchair
• Jadhav Minakshi Harichandra - Women's Wheelchair
• Rayannavar Laxmi Rayappa - Women's Wheelchair

ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS

• Tapan Mohanty - Men's Team all-around
• Tapeshwarnath Das - Men's Team all-around
• Swatish KP - Men's Team all-around
• Satyajit Mondal - Men's Team all-around
• Pranati Nayak - Women's Team all-around
• Nishka Agarwal - Women's Team all-around
• Eshita Rewale - Women's Team all-around
• Protistha Samanta - Women's Team all-around

ATHLETICS

Track

• Gurindervir Singh - Men's 100 metres
• Animesh Kujur - Men's 200 metres
• Vishal TK - Men's 400 metres, Mixed 4 x 400 metres relay
• Rajesh Ramesh - Men's 400 metres, Mixed 4 x 400 metres relay
• Gulveer Singh - Men's 5000 metres, Men's 10,000 metres
• Tejas Shirse - Men's 110 metres hurdles
• Yashas Palaksha - Men's 400 metres hurdles
• Santhosh Kumar Tamilarasan - Men's 400 metres hurdles
• Rashdeep Kaur - Women's 400 metres, Mixed 4 x 400 metres relay
• Neeru Pathak - Women's 400 metres, Mixed 4 x 400 metres relay
• Ansa Babu - Women's 400 metres, Mixed 4 x 400 metres relay
• Parul Chaudhary - Women's 3000 metres s'chase, Women's 5000 metres
• Priyanka Goswami - Women's 10,000 metres walk
• Ravina Gaikwad - Women's 10,000 metres walk

Field

• Dev Meena - Men's pole vault
• Kuldeep Kumar - Men's pole vault
• Sarvesh Anil Kushare - Men's high jump
• Aadarsh Ram J - Men's high jump
• Tejaswin Shankar - Men's high jump, Men's decathlon
• Murali Sreeshankar - Men's long jump
• Lokesh Sathyanathan - Men's long jump
• Praveen Chithravel - Men's triple jump
• Selva Prabhu - Men's triple jump
• Samardeep Singh Gill - Men's shot put
• Tajinderpal Singh Toor - Men's shot put
• Neeraj Chopra - Men's javelin throw
• Rohit Yadav - Men's javelin throw
• Yash Vir Singh - Men's javelin throw
• Pooja Singh - Women's high jump
• Manpreet Kaur - Women's shot put
• Seema Kaliramna - Women's discus throw
• Nidhi Rani - Women's discus throw

PARA ATHLETICS

Track

• Rakeshbhai Bhatt - Men's 100 metres (T38)
• Shreyansh Trivedi - Men's 100 metres (T38)
• Mohammed Basil M - Men's 100 metres (T47)
• Dilip Mahadu Gavit - Men's 100 metres (T47)
• Ramesh Shanmugam - Men's 1500 metres (T54)

Field

• Devender Kumar - Men's discus throw (F44)
• Sagar Thayat - Men's discus throw (F44)
• Shubham Juyal - Men's shot put (F57)
• Soman Rana - Men's shot put (F57)
• Sharmila Dhankar - Women's shot put (F57)
• Shilpa K Shyla - Women's shot put (F57)

LAWN BOWLS

• Putul Sonowal - Men's singles
• Nayanmoni Saikia - Women's singles
• Navneet Singh - Men's pairs
• Dinesh Kumar - Men's pairs
• Rupa Rani Tirkey - Women's pairs
• Pinki Singh - Women's pairs

BOXING

• Jadumani Singh - Men's 55 kg
• Sachin Siwach - Men's 60 kg
• Aditya Pratap Singh - Men's 65 kg
• Sumit Kundu - Men's 70 kg
• Ankush Ankush - Men's 80 kg
• Kapil Pokhariya - Men's 90 kg
• Narender Berwal - Men's 90+ kg y
• Sakshi Choudhary - Women's 51 kg
• Preeti Pawar - Women's 54 kg
• Jasmine Lamboria - Women's 57 kg
• Priya Ghanghas - Women's 60 kg
• Parveen Hooda - Women's 65 kg
• Arundhati Choudhary - Women's 70 kg
• Lovlina Borgohain - Women's 75 kg

JUDO

• Harsh Singh - Men's 60 kg
• Rohit Basir Majgul - Men's 66 kg
• Arun Kumar - Men's 73 kg
• Harsh Tokas - Men's 81 kg
• Karanjit Singh Maan - Men's 90 kg
• Avtar Singh - Men's 100 kg
• Yash Ghanghas - Men's 100+ kg
• Asmita Dey - Women's 48 kg
• Shraddha Kadabul Chopade - Women's 52 kg
• Yamini Mourya - Women's 57 kg
• Unnati Sharma - Women's 63 kg
• Inunganbi Takhellambam - Women's 70 kg
• Ishroop Narang - Women's 78 kg
• Tulika Maan - Women's 78+ kg

PARA POWERLIFTING

• Ashok Kumar Malik - Men's lightweight
• Parmjeet Kumar - Men's lightweight
• Sudhir Sudhir - Men's heavyweight
• Jhandu Kumar - Men's heavyweight
• Suman Devi - Women's lightweight
• Jaspreet Kaur - Women's lightweight
• Kasthuri Rajamani - Women's heavyweight

SWIMMING

• Srihari Nataraj - men's 50m backstroke, 100m backstroke, 100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle relay
• Aryan Nehra - men's 400m freestyle, 800m freestyle, 1500m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle relay
• Sajan Prakash - men's 50m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 200m freestyle
• Aneesh S Gowda - men's 200m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle relay
• Dhakshan Shashikumar - men's 400m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle relay

PARA SWIMMING

• Ravi Veera Venkata Budigina - Freestyle 50 m S7
• Ali Imam - Freestyle100 m S13
• Suyash Narayan Jadhav - Freestyle 50 m S7
• Chaitanya Vishwas Kulkarni - Freestyle 200 m S14
• Swatik Patil - Freestyle 50 m S7

* Tejas Nandakumar (Freestyle 200 m S14) was included in the squad, but was ruled out due to a classification eligibility issue.

TRACK CYCLING

• Ronaldo Singh Laitonjam - 1000m time trial
• David Beckham Elkatohchoongo - Men's Elite Keirin
• Jemsh Singh Keithellakram - Men's Elite Keirin
• Dinesh Kumar - Men's Endurance / Pursuit formats
• Rojit Singh Yanglem - Men's Endurance / Pursuit formats
• Sekhon Harshveer Singh - Men's 4,000m Team Pursuit

PARA TRACK CYCLING

• Lisha Das - Women's Track Cycling (Para)

WEIGHTLIFTING

• Rishikanta Singh - Men's 60 kg
• M Raja - Men's 65 kg
• Ajaya Babu - Men's 79 kg
• Dilbag Singh - Men's 94 kg
• Lovepreet Singh - Men's 110+ kg
• Mirabai Chanu - Women's 48 kg
• Gyaneshwari Yadav - Women's 53 kg
• Bindyarani Devi - Women's 58 kg
• Harjinder Kaur - Women's 69 kg
• Sanjana - Women's 77 kg
• Seram Nirupama Devi - Women's 86 kg
• Martina Devi - Women's 86+ kg