Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games Concludes with Celebratory Closing Ceremony and Flag Handover to Amdavad

'Proud to be from Scotland' kicks us off Look, it might be the sleep deprivation or the copious caffeine finally taking its toll... but that was a rousing opening from Sandi Thom! Clad in a Saltire dress, she belted out Proud to be from Scotland, and I reckon the Scots have lots to be proud about with these Games.

HERE'S DELTA It is 2002 all over again as she opens up with Born to Try. And here come the athletes! We're getting a whole Delta medley here and honestly ... it's making my precious little millennial heart very happy.

Harsh truths Oof. Fancy inviting an Aussie to Scotland for the closing ceremony and they immediately start banging on about "Sitting On Top Of The World". Arrogant Aussies back at it again.

OH MY, YOU'RE THE VOICE?!?!?! Deltra brings out Scotland's Cammy Barnes to join her in perhaps the greatest piece of Australian-Scottish music ever and belt out John Farnham's classic You're the Voice (sorry Long Way to the Top). AND A FULL COMPLEMENT OF BAGPIPES FOR THE CLASSIC BREAKDOWN? What an OPENING from Delta Goodrem. Erinsborough proud of that, you'd think.

10/10. No notes. Straight gas 🔥

Teams loving life in the Hydro Aussie chef de mission Petria Thomas said tonight would be a "dance party" for the green and gold, and they're not the only ones. The athletes and a lot of support staff on the floor of the Hydro are having a great time, partying together, mingling, climbing on each others' shoulders, swapping pins. This is that good gear. A bunch of people who've put in years of work to get here finally exhaling, even if only for a moment before getting back into the grind. And I can assure you a lot of these athletes have told us straight after their comps end that they are going right back to training or competing. It's wild, so they've earned this chance to let their hair down.

A love letter to Glasgow I've got goosebumps listening to that piece from Scottish poet Jackie Kay. Here's a little of her words in case you missed it: We welcome the risk-taker, the refugee. We take to the streets for democracy. We meet our lovers under the Hielanman’s Umbrella and exchange a kiss. Ae fon kiss. This one is for Youse. All of You.

Aussie cyclists hitting the road The Australian men's sprinters and some of the endurance boys have just shuffled out. Credit to the cyclists who turned up tonight after competing in some of the most physically taxing events of the Games just a few hours ago.

Fair bit of diplomacy that Look, Glasgow did us a mighty solid in picking up these Games after Melbourne pulled the pin in 2023. But lending them Delta to open up the closing ceremony LIKE THAT as a bit of an apology might just make up for it?

Time to officially close these Games OK, we've paused the party just for the moment as we begin the official proceedings to close the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and hand the Commonwealth Games flag over to Amdavad.

Scotland's Melanie Woods wins the David Dixon Award The hometown hero gets a HUGE cheer. She's the first Scottish athlete to ever win the award. Woods won the Women's 1,500m T54 gold medal in a Commonwealth record time ... TWICE ... after the race had to be re-run after a dramatic crash in the first. Here's what the David Dixon award means according to the Games: The David Dixon Award is given to the outstanding athlete of the Commonwealth Games, based on their performance, fair play and overall contribution to their team’s participation at the Games. The award is given every four years and is named after the former honorary secretary of the Commonwealth Games Federation, David Dixon.

The flag ... and the Games ... are in the hands of India The Commonwealth Games flag just made its way from the Lord Provost of Glasgow, Jacqueline McLaren to the Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat, Harsh Sanghavi. It'll kick off the handover portion of this ceremony, where we'll get a bit of a flavour of Amdavad and the Games we'll see in four years time.

Amdavad — a city of river and rhythm That's how the next host city of the Commonwealth Games was described.

Whoa, what a crossover performance this is! India's Rishab Rikhiram Sharma absolutely shredding on the sitar in one heck of a jam session with Scotland's Ross Ainslie doing the same on the pipes. Not a crossover I'd expected, but I'm sure glad we got it!

If Glasgow was a green place, Amdavad might be every colour What a treat we've got here as a preview to the city and culture that'll be on display in four years' time. Bollywood singer Bhoomi Trivedi BELTED out some of her hits as a tribute to Gujarat, the state of the next host city. The camera cut to the Indian team here and my word they were LOVING it. How excting for those athletes to celebrate a home Games in four years time.

And Glasgow 2026 is ... closed! Prince Edward has officially closed the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. But we're not done yet! A few final performances before it's all over.

A cèilidh to close us out For those not fluent, this is a cèilidh (pronounced kay-lee). A Scottish country dance that's a mainstay of any Scottish celebration — weddings, schools, festivals. So basically, the Scottish version of The Nutbush. It's a bop, I've gotta say.

THE UNICORNS ARE BACK NOT A DRILL FOLKS!!! OUR SPARKLY SILVER UNICORNS FROM THE OPENING CEREMONY ARE DANCING IN THE CROWD.

Simple Minds bring us to a close The Scottish rock legends will be the final act of this closing ceremony.

Don't You Forget About Me time! No way they were gonna leave us without their 1985 smash hit. Wow the Hydro is in FULL VOICE.