Two more Olympic medallists have withdrawn from the athletics competition at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, organisers confirmed, further thinning the star names due to appear at Scotstoun as the track and field programme gets under way.
Withdrawals pile up ahead of first sessions
Louie Hinchliffe and Charlie Dobson are the latest to pull out, joining a list of elite British athletes who have decided not to compete for Team England in the coming days. Hinchliffe, coached by Carl Lewis and a bronze medallist in the sprint relay at the Paris Olympics, had impressed recently with a third-place finish at the Novuna UK Championships in Birmingham. Dobson won bronze for Britain in the 4x400m relay in Paris.
The pair are the seventh and eighth Olympic medallists to withdraw in the space of a few days, following Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Matthew Hudson-Smith, Dina Asher-Smith, Daryll Neita and Amber Anning, who all pulled out last week.
What this means for the events at Scotstoun
Athletics at Scotstoun is due to begin on Monday, but the conversation among fans and officials has been dominated more by absentees than competitors. With several headline names missing, organisers are facing a programme with fewer household stars than originally billed.
- 100m — With Hinchliffe out, Elliot Jones, who finished fifth at the recent UK Championships with a personal best of 10.04 seconds, will be the sole English entrant in the blue-riband event.
- Track star withdrawals — The absence of prominent names means the field is more open, but also less likely to attract the same level of spectator interest.
- Local interest — Scots were already missing home star Eilish McColgan, who withdrew with injury, reducing the number of locally promoted attractions.
There are still tickets available for the athletics sessions at Scotstoun, which holds about 10,000 spectators — roughly a quarter of the crowd that watched athletics at Hampden 12 years ago. That availability suggests demand may be softer than expected given the scale of the withdrawals.
International absences and the bigger picture
The athletics programme will also be missing several leading international stars. Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred and Botswana's Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo are not in the field, further diminishing the depth of competition on paper.
| Athlete | Note |
|---|---|
| Louie Hinchliffe | Olympic sprint relay bronze medallist; withdrawn |
| Charlie Dobson | Olympic 4x400m bronze medallist; withdrawn |
| Elliot Jones | Now sole English 100m entrant; PB 10.04s |
For spectators planning to travel from Stirling and across the region, the changes will be noticeable: sessions expected to showcase Olympic medallists instead open with a more domestic line-up. That will matter to those who bought tickets to see particular stars, and to casual fans drawn by big names on marketing material.
Organisers and Team England face a short window to rearrange publicity and manage expectations. For now, supporters should check the event schedule and ticketing information before travelling to Glasgow if they are seeking particular athletes.
While the absence of several medal winners is disappointing, the programme still contains competitive events and opportunities for emerging athletes to take centre stage.
