With Neeraj in perfect shape, India targeting record medal haul in athletics

India are targeting their best-ever athletics medal haul at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, with chief athletics coach Radhakrishnan Nair sounding confident ahead of the 32-member team taking to the track in Glasgow. The head coach has pinned his hopes on a fit and firing Neeraj Chopra, who returns to action after a prolonged back injury that kept him on the sidelines for the majority of last season.Speaking to PTI, Nair said India’s 32-member athletics contingent is aiming to win more medals than the eight it secured at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, including two or three gold medals. India have never won more than two athletics golds at a single edition of the Games, with that mark coming at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.NEERAJ RETURNS FROM INJURYChopra, who arrived in Glasgow on Friday, is central to India’s medal hopes. The javelin star is returning to the Commonwealth Games after missing the 2022 edition due to injury. He had won gold at the 2018 Games in Gold Coast with a throw of 86.47m.The Olympic champion has endured an interrupted build-up to Glasgow after suffering a lower back injury just before the World Championships in September 2025. He has competed only once this season, finishing fourth at the Doha Diamond League in June with a throw of 85.69m. However, Nair believes Chopra is now in the best physical condition he has seen him in for a long time."Chopra is in perfect shape physically. I have not seen him so good in a long time. He is very confident and we can expect a very good performance from him," Nair told PTI. "I need not tell you the colour of the medal but he is very confident of doing his best."STRONG JAVELIN FIELD IN CWG 2026Chopra will face a strong field in Glasgow, with Sri Lanka's Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, Grenada's Anderson Peters and Pakistan's defending champion Arshad Nadeem among the contenders. Nadeem, the reigning Olympic champion, will be one of Chopra's biggest rivals.India will also have Rohit Yadav in the men's javelin event. Rohit threw a personal best of 87.05m last month and could enter medal contention if he can reproduce that form in Glasgow.The men's javelin qualifying round is scheduled for July 30, with the final to be held on July 31.India's athletics contingent has several other medal prospects, giving Nair confidence that the team can surpass its Birmingham performance."We will do better than in Birmingham and win more medals this time. Moreover, we are hoping to win two or three gold medals though I can't tell from which events we will do it," Nair said.India's lone athletics gold at Birmingham came through triple jumper Eldhose Paul, who will miss the Glasgow Games as he continues his rehabilitation after undergoing surgery for an injury.Nair, however, believes India have enough depth to make up for his absence."We have two javelin throwers in medal contention, two long jumpers who can do above 8.20m, two triple jumpers who can do more than 17m. We also have a high jumper who recently did above 2.30m."Gulveer Singh in long distance and Parul Chaudhary (women's 3000m steeplechase) are also there, among other athletes. So all in all, we are expecting more medals this time than in 2022."Tejaswin Shankar, who is competing in the decathlon, could also add to India's medal prospects.If India manage to win three athletics gold medals in Glasgow, it would mark the country's best-ever haul in the discipline at the Commonwealth Games. With Chopra leading the charge, India will be hoping their strongest athletics contingent in years can turn that ambition into a record-breaking campaign.- EndsPublished By: Kingshuk KusariPublished On: Jul 26, 2026 07:10 IST