CWG 2026: AFI sets tough standards, athletes must break national records

The AFI has announced stringent qualification standards for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Due to a smaller team quota, athletes in 17 events must break or match national records. The Federation Cup in May will be the final selection trial.

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has announced stringent qualification standards for the 2026 Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Glasgow, with athletes in as many as 17 events needing to either break or match existing national records to be considered for selection.The CWG 2026, scheduled from July 23 to August 2 in Scotland, will feature a scaled-down athletics programme, restricting each country to a maximum of 32 athletes, including no more than 16 women. In response, AFI has raised the performance bar significantly to ensure a highly competitive Indian contingent, according to olympics.com.

AFI Raises the Bar for Top Athletes

Among the men's events, athletes will be required to surpass national records in the 100m, 400m, 1500m, 110m hurdles and hammer throw. Notably, Animesh Kujur's national mark of 10.18 seconds in the 100m falls just short of the AFI's qualification standard of 10.16 seconds. Similarly, 110m hurdles record holder Tejas Shirse, with a time of 13.41 seconds, is also narrowly below the required cut.

Asian Games silver medallist Jyothi Yarraji, who is returning from an ACL injury, will need to improve her national record of 12.78 seconds in the 100m hurdles to 12.67 seconds to qualify.

Meanwhile, Vithya Ramraj, who had equalled PT Usha's long-standing national record of 55.42 seconds in the women's 400m hurdles, must now clock 54.67 seconds to meet the AFI standard.

The men's javelin throw appears to offer more room for multiple qualifiers, with the entry mark set at 82.61 metres. Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, along with Sachin Yadav and Rohit Yadav, have already crossed this distance in their careers.

AFI has not specified a qualifying standard for the men's 4x400m relay, while the mixed 4x400m relay has been pegged at 3 minutes 16 seconds.

Key qualifying standards (selected events)

- Men's 100m: 10.16s - Women's 100m: 11.17s - Men's 400m: 44.96s - Women's 400m: 51.36s - Men's 1500m: 3:30.82 - Women's 1500m: 4:05.09 - Men's 5000m: 13:19.64 - Women's 5000m: 14:56.60 - Men's 10,000m: 27:39.03 - Women's 10,000m: 31:14.14

Final Trials and Selection Criteria

AFI confirmed that the Federation Cup in Ranchi, scheduled from May 22 to 25, will act as the final selection trials for the Commonwealth Games. Athletes who have already achieved the qualifying marks earlier in the season will also be required to participate. However, the federation retains the right to exempt athletes in exceptional circumstances.

Selectors will also have discretionary powers to include competitors who may not have met the standards but are viewed as strong medal prospects.

CWG Qualification and India's Past Performance

Unlike the Olympics, where qualification criteria are uniform worldwide, Commonwealth Games standards are set individually by each participating nation.

At the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, India won 61 medals overall, with athletics contributing eight, including one gold. The country's best-ever CWG performance came at the 2010 CWG in New Delhi, when India topped 100 medals. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)