Team England will welcome eight athletes to its athletics squad for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Niamh Emerson, Renee Regis, Ebuka Nwokeji, Tara Simpson-Sullivan, Tom Keen, Mark Pearce, Mabel Akande and Louise Evans have all joined Team England ahead of the start of the athletics programme on Monday 27 July.

Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Emerson replaces Katarina Johnson-Thompson in the heptathlon, as she heads to her second Games with Team England.  Selection for the Glasgow 2026 continues a remarkable comeback year for the 27-year-old, who completed her first heptathlon in eight years in April.

Emerson was crowned world junior heptathlon champion in 2018, the same year she
won Commonwealth Games bronze on the Gold Coast.  Regis replaces Dina Asher-Smith in the women’s 4x100m relay squad, as 20-year-old continues her exciting rise.

She is a two-time silver medallist at European Under-20 level and made her senior breakthrough this year by clinching the UK indoor 200m title in February, breaking the championship record in the process.

Regis joins sister Alicia as part of Team England, with the latter part of the mixed 4x400m relay squad.

Nwokeji will replace Jona Efoloko in the men’s 4x100m relay squad after a brilliant start to his season.

The 19-year-old won 200m bronze at the UK Championships last month, where he clocked a personal best time of 20.55s for his first senior medal.

Nwokeji won 100m silver at the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games and now returns for his senior Team England debut.

Simpson-Sullivan replaces Anna Purchase in the women’s hammer. The 25-year-old finished third at the UK Championships last month, having returned to the UK following time spent competing in the NCAA for Rice University. She was crowned British hammer champion in 2021.

Keen replaces Elliot Giles in the men’s mile and heads to Glasgow off the back of a brilliant performance at the London Diamond League. The 25-year-old clocked a new personal best of 3:49.33 in the world record-breaking race on Saturday, following on from his third-place finish over 1500m at the UK Championships.

It continues an excellent year for Keen, who won the UK indoor 3000m title in February.

Mabel Akande will make her senior Commonwealth Games debut in the 100m, replacing Daryll Neita.

Akande, 19, won silver in the 4x100m relay at the Trinbago 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games and has continued her exciting trajectory since.  She won European Under-20 silver last year and won bronze at this year's UK Championships in a personal best 11.18s.

Laviai Nielsen will step up from the 4 x 400m to replace the withdrawal of Amber Anning in the 400m, and Louise Evans will be brought in to provide additional support to the 4 x 400m team. Evans ran a new personal best of 52.80s at the UK Champs and is now set to make her Team England debut.

It has also been confirmed that Matthew Hudson-Smith has also withdrawn from the Commonwealth Games.

Team England athletics team leader, Scott Grace, said: “Firstly, I would like to send my best wishes to those who leave the team whether due to injury or other circumstances.

"I wish the athletes the very best of luck through their recoveries or for the upcoming opportunities ahead with the rest of their seasons. We are delighted to be welcoming an additional five athletes to Team England, across a range of different events.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for those athletes who are in excellent form to step into Team England and represent their country on the world stage. We are excited to support these athletes in Glasgow over the next couple of weeks.”