KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia will head to the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow with a target of five gold medals despite a significantly scaled-down programme and the absence of badminton and rhythmic gymnastics, two sports that delivered four gold medals at the 2022 Birmingham Games.
Chef de Mission Datuk Awalan Abdul Aziz said Malaysia is targeting five gold, two silver and four bronze medals after assessing the strengths of the 59-athlete contingent and identifying realistic medal opportunities across the eight sports the country will contest.
He acknowledged that the removal of badminton and rhythmic gymnastics had made the task more challenging but expressed confidence that athletes in other sports could bridge the gap.
“We have set an overall target of five gold medals, two silvers and four bronzes for Glasgow. While we have effectively lost four gold medal opportunities because badminton and rhythmic gymnastics are no longer on the programme, we believe the remaining target can still be achieved through other events.
“We have analysed the athletes and events carefully, and we know where our medal opportunities lie. However, as Chef de Mission, I do not want to place the burden of specific targets on individual athletes. Once an athlete is in contention for the podium, they have the ability to improve the colour of the medal they are expected to win.
“What is most important is that our athletes arrive in Glasgow fully prepared, compete with confidence and seize every opportunity available. This edition may be smaller, but that does not mean our ambitions are any smaller,” he told Scoop.
Awalan noted that the Glasgow Games would be far more compact than previous editions, featuring only 10 sports compared with more than 20 in recent Commonwealth Games.
Consequently, Malaysia will send just 59 athletes, down from the 104 who represented the country in Birmingham four years ago.
“The scale of the Games has changed dramatically. We are sending fewer athletes because there are fewer sports on the programme, but our objective remains to maximise every medal opportunity available.
“Badminton alone contributed two gold medals in Birmingham, while rhythmic gymnastics added another two. Those events are not being held in Glasgow, so naturally we have had to reassess our medal projections and identify alternative avenues for success.
“We have athletes in several sports who are capable of challenging the best in the Commonwealth. If they perform to their potential, I believe we can still meet our target and possibly exceed expectations,” he said.
Malaysia’s strongest medal prospects are expected to come from weightlifting, cycling, lawn bowls, judo, para powerlifting and para athletics.
The 2026 Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow from July 23 to Aug 2. – July 16, 2026