On Monday, a war cry sounded when Team Kenya captains Julius Yego (javelin thrower) and Zeddy Cherotich (judoka) were blessed to lead the team at the 23rd Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
This came as the government announced a considerable improvement in the cash rewards scheme for Team Kenya to the Games. Athletes winning gold medals will earn Sh2.5 million from Sh500,000, silver medalists will pocket Sh1.5 million, an improvement from Sh300,000, while bronze medallists will pocket Sh1 million from Sh100,000.
Kenya’s squad of 94 athletes will be among 3,000 competitors from 74 nations who will compete for the top prizes in the Games, which start on July 23, 2026 and feature 10 core sports, including six fully integrated para sports.
However, this is a reduction in size from the 2022 Games in Birmingham, where Kenya had 123 athletes competing in 17 sports. Organisers of this year’s edition reduced the number of participants from 5,000 to 3,000 due to financial constraints.
On Tuesday, Yego and Cherotich were handed the national flag by Sports PS Elijah Mwangi at Kasarani Stadium, ahead of the Games.
Team Kenya captain Julius Yego (right) and assistant captain Zeddy Cherotich fold the national flag after receiving it from Sports PS Elijah Mwangi during the team's flag-off ceremony for the 2026 Commonwealth Games at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, on July 20, 2026.
Photo credit: Chris Omollo | Nation Media Group
Kenya won 21 medals at the 2022 Birmingham Games – six golds, five silvers and 10 bronzes, all of which were won in athletics except for Hellen Wawira’s bronze in para powerlifting.
The Commonwealth Games may be the world’s second-biggest sporting festival after the Olympics, but they have sailed in turbulent waters in recent years, with their future looking uncertain as former British colonies find hosting the Games too costly.
In July 2023, Victoria, a state in Australia, backed out of hosting the 2026 Games due to budget overruns, before Glasgow, which hosted the Games in 2014, stepped in. This forced the organisers to reduce the number of events as the Games return to the Scottish city 12 years later.
The programme will feature 10 sports, compared to 18 in 2014 and 20 in 2022. Competitions will include athletics, swimming, track cycling, gymnastics, netball, weightlifting, boxing, judo, lawn bowls and 3x3 basketball. There will also be six fully integrated para sports: para-athletics, para-swimming, para-track cycling, para-ball sports, para-power-lifting and 3x3 wheelchair basketball.
Kenya will compete in the following sports: athletics, swimming, track cycling, weightlifting, boxing, judo, lawn bowls, 3x3 basketball, para-athletics, para-track cycling, para-powerlifting and 3x3 wheelchair basketball.
The Games are a quadrennial international multi-sport event bringing together athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, a political association of mainly former British colonies.
The Games were first held in 1930 as the British Empire Games, a name that was changed in 1950 to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games, which in turn was changed in 1966 to the British Commonwealth Games. Since 1978, the event has been known as the Commonwealth Games.
With 258 medals, Kenya is the second most successful African country at the Commonwealth Games, behind only South Africa, having won 91 gold, 80 silver and 87 bronze medals. South Africa has won 416 medals – 137 gold, 132 silver, and 147 bronze.
Sports PS Elijah Mwangi hands over the national flag to Team Kenya captain Julius Yego and assistant captain Zeddy Cherotich during the team's flag-off for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, on July 20, 2026.
Photo credit: Chris Omollo | Nation Media Group
Kenya is currently eighth and South Africa sixth in the overall medal standings, with Australia in first place with 2,604 medals: 1,003 gold, 834 silver, and 767 bronze.
Yego (javelin), Joyce Njuguna (Para power-lifting) and Millicent Ndoro (200m, 100m) are the only survivors from the 2014 Glasgow Games. Yego, aged 37, won Kenya its first-ever “Club” Games javelin title, while Njuguna, aged 50, won Kenya its first-ever medal in able-bodied or para power-lifting, taking home the bronze in the heavyweight category.
Ndoro, aged 40, reached the semi-finals of both the 200m and 100m.
The 2014 Glasgow Games remain Kenya’s best ever, with the country winning 25 medals: 10 gold, 10 silver and 5 bronze.
This was an improvement on the 33 medals won at the 2010 Delhi Games: 12 gold, 11 silver and 10 bronze.
Legendary swimmer Jason Dunford broke the athletics dominance by handing the country its maiden Commonwealth Games swimming title with his victory in the men’s 50m butterfly.
