A historic track race to replace 1,500m event at 2026 Commonwealth Games

The track and field program at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow will feature a notable change, with World Athletics set to reintroduce the one-mile race, replacing the men’s and women’s 1,500m events.

Glasgow 2026 has today announced the medal event programme for the 23rd Commonwealth Games, with Para sport, Track Cycling and Swimming set for the most extensive medal event programmes in Commonwealth Games history.

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Last contested in 1966, the mile race pays tribute to “The Miracle Mile” at the 1954 Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, where England’s Roger Bannister and Australia’s John Landy—the only two sub-four-minute milers in the world at the time—faced off, just two months after Bannister became the first athlete to break the four-minute barrier.

In addition to the mile, the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games will see the introduction of the mixed 4x400m relay, aligning with recent changes to the Olympic and World Championship programs. The Games, scheduled from July 23 to Aug. 2, 2026, will feature a condensed 10-sport program across four venues, with Glasgow’s Scotstoun Stadium set to host the athletics events.

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said in a press release that he strongly supports the reintroduction of the mile: “The mile is easy to understand. It is four laps of the track and remains a standard everyday measurement across the Commonwealth.”

The 1,500m, sometimes referred to as the metric mile, has been a staple of the Olympic program since the early 1900s, but was not introduced to the Commonwealth Games until 1970. From 1930 to 1966, the mile (1,609 metres) was the premier middle-distance event at the Commonwealth Games, and became a major spectacle in the 1950s and ’60s, with legendary runners making their mark, such as Bannister, Landy, Australia’s Peter Snell and American Jim Ryun—who set a world record of 3:51.1 in 1967, a mark that stood for nearly a decade.

The current world records for the mile stand at 3:43.13 (men’s) and 4:07.64 (women’s). The women’s record, in particular, is now approaching a once-unthinkable benchmark.

Beyond the return of the mile, the 2026 Games will also feature the mixed 4x400m relay, echoing its inclusion in the Olympic and World Championship programs. Additionally, 2026 will be a landmark year for the sport, as World Athletics is set to host its inaugural “Ultimate Championships,” which will include a 4x100m mixed relay to determine the fastest nation in the world.