Paralympians and Para athletes excelled for New Zealand at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, claiming a record-breaking nine medals – three gold, three silver and three bronze – across ten days of competition.
The total eclipsed the previous best of four Para sport medals won by New Zealand at both the Gold Coast 2018 and Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. The nine medals secured at Glasgow 2026 also accounted for 25 per cent of the 36 medals won by the 112-strong New Zealand Team.
Leading the way were Paralympian #194 Emma Foy and pilot Jessie Hodges, who clinched double gold in the Women’s Tandem B Sprint and Women’s Tandem B 1000m Time Trial with a pair of outstanding performances.
Foy, a two-time Paralympic medallist from Rio 2016, opened her account alongside Hodges in the sprint, with the dynamic duo showing great resilience and tactical nous to secure gold. After qualifying fourth fastest for the semi-finals, they led from the front to defeat England’s Elizabeth Jordan and Sylvia Misztal before producing a come-from-behind victory in the gold medal final.
After Australia’s Jessica Gallagher and Jacqueline Mengler-Mohr defeated Foy and Hodges in race one, both tandems crashed early in race two, forcing a restart. Showing great composure, however, Foy and Hodges regrouped to edge race two before sealing gold with a comprehensive victory in the deciding race.
The tandem pairing capped their Glasgow 2026 campaign with a scintillating performance in the Women’s Tandem B 1000m Time Trial. As the penultimate riders to start, they posted a blistering 1:06.367 to defeat Gallagher and Mengler-Mohr by 0.485 seconds.
Paralympian #229 Devon Briggs stormed to an emphatic gold medal in the Men’s 1000m Time Trial C1-3, setting a Games record of 1:05.536. The 22-year-old Cambridge rider powered around the four laps of the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome to comfortably defeat Australia’s Gordon Allan by 1.825 seconds.
Briggs concluded his Glasgow 2026 campaign by taking bronze in the Men’s 3000m Individual Pursuit C1-3. In qualifying, the Kiwi set a personal best of 3:25.889 to miss a place in the gold medal ride-off by less than a quarter of a second. He then went on to comfortably defeat Allan in the bronze medal race, clocking 3:26.682.
New Zealand claimed a fifth Para cycling medal courtesy of Paralympian #222 Nicole Murray PLY in the Women’s 4000m Individual Pursuit C4-5. After missing a place in the gold medal ride by less than half a second, Murray comfortably secured bronze ahead of Australia’s Erin Normoyle in 5:06.199. She later finished fourth in the Women’s 1000m Time Trial C4-5, recording 1:13.653, just 0.111 seconds shy of bronze.
Paralympian #238 Josh Willmer produced an outstanding display to claim silver in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke SB9. The Aucklander, competing up a classification, won his heat in 1:11.99 before returning to the pool to finish on the podium in 1:11.44 behind Australia’s Beau Matthews (1:09.41). Willmer touched the wall in third but was promoted to silver following the disqualification of Canada’s Fernando Lu. It was his second Commonwealth Games medal after winning gold in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke SB8 at Birmingham 2022.
In Para athletics, Paralympian #195 Anna Grimaldi PLY MNZM claimed her first Commonwealth Games medal by taking bronze in the Women’s 100m T47 final. The three-time Paralympic gold medallist recorded a season’s best of 12.46, with Canada’s Sheriauna Haase (12.23) and Chloe Dunbar (12.33) grabbing gold and silver respectively.
In Para bowls, New Zealand added further gloss to its medal tally with a pair of silver medals. In the Para Women’s Pairs B6-8, Julie O’Connell and Teri Blackbourn produced an outstanding performance to reach the final before losing 1.5-0.5 to Australia’s Louise Hoskins and Serena Bonnell in the gold medal match. Kurt Smith and Mark Noble were similarly impressive in the Para Men’s Pairs B6-8 event before being defeated 2-0 by Australia’s Damien Delgado and James Reynolds in the final.
In the Para Mixed Pairs B2-3 event, Kiwi duo Sonya Woodrow and Kerrin Wheeler finished fourth after just missing out on the bronze medal to Wales’ Julie Thomas and Steffan James in a deciding tie-break.
Paralympics New Zealand CEO Greg Warnecke acknowledged the positive outcomes from Glasgow 2026. “The integration of Para sports within the Games programme is a particular highlight for Paralympians and Para athletes to compete alongside their able-bodied teammates” he said. “Congratulations to the entire NZ Team for a successful campaign, and specifically to the Paralympians and Para athletes who delivered world class performances, continuing to change perceptions on disability and what is possible, inspiring our next generation of Paralympians.”
Focus for Paralympians and Para athletes now shifts to preparations for upcoming world championship events, with eyes on the LA28 Paralympic Games, now just over two years away.
Full list of NZ Para sport medals at Glasgow 2026:
Gold
Paralympian #194 Emma Foy and Jessie Hodges – Women’s Tandem B Sprint
Paralympian #194 Emma Foy and Jessie Hodges – Women’s Tandem B 1000m Time Trial
Paralympian #229 Devon Briggs – Men’s 1000m Time Trial C1-3
Silver
Paralympian #238 Josh Willmer – Men’s 100m Breaststroke SB9
Julie O’Connell and Teri Blackbourn – Para Women’s Pairs B6-8
Kurt Smith and Mark Noble – Para Men’s Pairs B6-8
Bronze
Paralympian #195 Anna Grimaldi PLY MNZM – Women’s 100m T47
Paralympian #229 Devon Briggs – Men’s 3000m Individual Pursuit C1-3
Paralympian #222 Nicole Murray PLY – Women’s 4000m Individual Pursuit C4-5
Cover image credit: SWpix
