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More than 50 Winning Students 100 scholars and alumni bound for Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games glory

An incredible 27 current Winning Students 100 scholars have been selected to compete at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this summer, with a further 25 programme alumni also taking to one of the biggest sporting stages in the world.

Athletes from eight further and higher education across Scotland, all backed by Scotland’s national sport scholarship programme, are representing Team Scotland in no less than 11 sports, at what is being dubbed the Friendly Games.

In athletics, University of Edinburgh Applied Sport Science student Megan Keith will be in search of Commonwealth glory in the 5,000m and 10,000m events while teammate Alyson Bell will be taking on the 200m and 4x100m relay.  

Previous athletics scholars including legendary runners Eilish McColgan and Laura Muir, as well as Christopher Bennett, Sarah Calvert, Stephen Mackenzie and Jax Thoirs will all be taking to the track and field in the coming weeks, in everything from pole vault and hammer to mile race and long jump.

Cycling sees Scottish legend Mark Stewart of the University of Strathclyde make his fourth Games appearances, while past Winning Students 100 scholars Neah Evans and Lauren Bell will also be in action in Glasgow.

The scholarship programme is also strongly represented in judo, with current athletes Sunny Doig, Eva Ewing and Sophie Wood all selected for Team Scotland. They will compete alongside former scholars Sarah Adlington, Gregor Miller and Ollie Short.

Gymnastics will feature current scholars and Stirling students Cameron Lynn and Crystelle Lake, while weightlifter Alex Mackay heads to Glasgow as a newly-crowned British champion and one of Team Scotland’s brightest medal hopes.

In wheelchair basketball, current scholar Shayne Humphries and alumnus Finlay Erskine will make history as part of Scotland’s men’s 3x3 wheelchair basketball team, the first Scottish side ever to compete in the event at a Commonwealth Games.

Shayne, who was born with a hereditary muscle condition, started playing wheelchair basketball aged 11. He joined the University of Stirling as a sports scholar, supported by a Winning Students 100 scholarship, in 2024 and has since enjoyed significant success on the international stage, winning silver at the World University Games and helping secure back-to-back British Universities and Colleges Sport titles.

A formidable swimming contingent will head to the Commonwealth Games, with twelve current scholars selected for the pool programme, including Angharad Evans, Evie Davis, Lucy Grieve, Jamie Ferguson, Archie Goodburn, Evan Jones, Stefan Krawiec, Holly McGill, Anna Morgan, Ciara Schlosshan, Katie Shanahan and George Smith.

They will be joined by alumni Duncan Scott, Lucy Hope, Keanna MacInnes and Scott Gibson, creating one of the strongest Winning Students 100 representations at any Games.

In para-swimming, current scholars Faye Rogers, Sam Downie and Toni Shaw will compete alongside alumni James Clegg, Stephen Clegg and Ollie Carter.

Katie Shanahan, who won bronze in the 400m Individual Medley and 200m Backstroke at Birmingham 2022, said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be picked for my second Commonwealth Games. I’ve got a lot of family and friends coming to watch and it’s literally down the road from where I live so it just makes it even more special. It’s not long now with the final preparations and competitions coming up and the excitement is definitely building.

“Competing for Team Scotland is just so different, it only happens once every four years and there’s a different energy about it all. It’s different in a very good way and I’m looking forward to getting back in that environment in the prep camp and then in Glasgow. I just can’t wait to compete.”

Elsewhere, former scholar Beth Riva will compete in lawn bowls, while para-powerlifting star Hope Gordon is set to represent Scotland once again on the international stage. 

Announced today, the netball squad will include University of Strathclyde’s Lexy Gillies in centre / wing defence and University of Glasgow’s Jazmine Moore in wing attack / circle. Both Lexy, who represented Team Scotland at the Trinbago 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games where the team finished fourth, and Jazmine will make their Commonwealth Games debut in Glasgow next month. 

Emma Barrie, Cerys Cairns, Rachel Conway and Cerys Finn, all Winning Students alumni, are also part of the 12-player squad.

Cathy Gallagher, Chair, Winning Students 100 Advisory Board said: “The Commonwealth Games represent another significant milestone for the Winning Students 100 programme, which proudly supports some of the country’s most talented student athletes as they pursue success at the highest level.

“As Glasgow prepares to welcome the world’s athletes this summer, dozens of current and former scholars will be among those flying the flag for their nations, demonstrating the strength, depth and future of sport development in Scotland. I have no doubt the Games will be an incredible moment of pride for all those involved and I wish the athletes every success for this momentous occasion.”

The impressive Commonwealth Games representation underlines the role Winning Students 100 plays in helping student athletes balance elite sport with higher education, providing support that enables them to pursue success both in competition and academia.

The Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games runs from 23 July – 2 August 2026.