Mirabai Chanu to carry India's flag at Glasgow, Lovlina Borgohain the baton

Mirabai Chanu and Lovlina Borgohain will lead the Indian contingent into the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, the Indian Olympic Association said on Saturday. Chanu, the Tokyo Olympic silver medallist in weightlifting, will carry the tricolour at the athletes' parade. Borgohain, who took bronze at the same Games in boxing, will carry the ceremonial King's Baton.

The announcement was made by IOA president P. T. Usha, who described it as a matter of pride for both athletes and the contingent. The ceremony is at the OVO Hydro on July 23, which is where India's campaign at the Games begins.

1. 1.Flag bearer: Mirabai Chanu — Tokyo 2020 silver, weightlifting.
2. 2.Baton bearer: Lovlina Borgohain — Tokyo 2020 bronze, boxing.
3. 3.Ceremony: OVO Hydro, Glasgow, July 23, 2026.
4. 4.Contingents: 74 Commonwealth nations and territories, each with its own designed baton.

Two things about the choice are worth noting. Both athletes are Tokyo medallists rather than Commonwealth habitués, which is a signal about how the IOA weighs Olympic pedigree when it allocates ceremonial roles. And the pairing is a double first for a sport-and-combat combination — a weightlifter carrying the flag and a boxer carrying the baton is an unusual alignment for an Indian contingent.

What the baton actually is

For the Glasgow edition, each of the 74 Commonwealth nations and territories has been presented with a specially designed baton reflecting its own culture and identity, and the batons are brought together as part of the ceremony. It is a small detail with a long history: the relay format is the Games' one surviving link to the Olympic torch, and it is the part of the opening that resists compression into a highlights clip.

For the athletes, the ceremonial roles tend to arrive as a distraction in the fortnight before competition rather than an honour in isolation. Chanu's weightlifting events and Borgohain's boxing bouts will both fall inside a Games that runs past the ceremony, and the two will be expected to compete at full intensity five days after carrying the flag.