Category: World Records

In July 2026, John Austin reported that the 1500 m races have all been replaced by 1 mile at the Commonwealth Games. This is his follow-up article on the mile races at the Commonwealth Games.

As I noted in Metric Views in July [1], the 1500 m races for men and women were replaced by mile races in the athletics programme of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games (CG), 27 July to 1 August. The original article stimulated some debate, and I was able to respond with my own views at the time. The discussion was more broadly-based than the mile races themselves extending into other events of the athletics programme where imperial units were present. Here I offer further comment which I hope addresses people’s concerns.

Continue reading “The Commonwealth Games mile races”

John Austin reports on the athletics programme for the 2026 Commonwealth Games, which will commence in Glasgow, Scotland on 27 July. National and International Athletics is almost entirely metric. The only imperial measurements in general use are “beneath the surface”: some shot weights are in whole numbers of pounds and hurdle and steeplechase heights are in imperial. Even the marathon is not an official distance in miles but is rather 42 195 m. So it may come as a surprise to most people to find that the 1500 m races have all been replaced by 1 mile [1].

Continue reading “Commonwealth Games to replace the 1500 m by a mile race”