Rob Pike was 17 when he and three of his closest friends were in a car that smashed into a tree and split in half. He explains how he coped with the devastation

After the car stopped rolling and came to rest on its side, Rob Pike remembers being “hyperfixated” on the rainwater pouring down his face. When he tried to wipe it away with his arm, he realised it wasn’t water. “I look at my arm and it is covered in blood. The next moment, it hit me: oh my gosh, we crashed.”

He was in the back seat next to his best friend, Daniel McCoy. “I look up to my left to see if Daniel’s OK. He’s probably about a foot away from my face and … he’s not OK. I’m looking at my dead best friend and I wish that wasn’t my last memory of him, seeing how broken he was.” They were 17.

Scottish champion on Commonwealth Games glory on home soil, the 1500m world record, and why he doesn’t want his rivals to know him too well

It was late on a crisp Glasgow night when Josh Kerr unlocked his hidden human side. Most of those who had roared themselves hoarse as he powered to Commonwealth gold had long gone. But after a few tears on the podium, Kerr spent more than half an hour posing for every selfie and signing every autograph.

It took quite some time, as the terminator on the track turned out to be a chatterbox off it. Although sometimes when he was asked for advice, Kerr couldn’t resist a flash of droll humour. “I was telling the kids to go to bed and telling the parents off,” he says, smiling.

• Phil Batty hails ‘phenomenal’ success of event

• ‘The Games are relevant, matter and are here to last’

This year’s Commonwealth Games have been “phenomenal” and have shown the events have the potential to carry on for another 100 years, the chief executive of Glasgow 2026 has told the Guardian. Phil Batty also said that the revamped Games, which included only 10 sports rather than the 19 in Birmingham four years ago, showcased a formula that made them financially sustainable as they head to Amdavad in 2030.

“What a phenomenal 11 days,” Batty said. “I have had absolute pride in the way that the city and the Commonwealth has come together. These Games have not only exceeded expectations. They have demonstrated that major events can flex and evolve to be fit for purpose in the future.

After a rollercoaster week at the Commonwealth Games, the double Olympic champion says he will never stop believing what he can achieve

“I couldn’t switch off because it’s been a real rollercoaster of a week,” Adam Ramsay-Peaty says with a weary smile on a quiet Thursday morning in Glasgow. He has just endured a rough night in which, after winning his third medal of the Commonwealth Games, he managed less than three hours of sleep. The medals consist of bronze in the 100m and 50m breaststroke and a silver in the men’s 4x100m medley. For most swimmers this would constitute success and satisfaction, but Ramsay-Peaty is different.

The fact that none of his three medals are gold, or attached to anything remotely like the kind of supreme performance that Ramsay-Peaty churned out with an aura of invincibility for eight years, has taken a chunk out of the double Olympic champion. There have been tears of frustration and an admission that “nothing makes sense this week”.

CJ Miller from West Lothian has delighted global audiences with ‘sheer stupidity’ of his half-time dances

The 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow have already provided plenty of highlights. But fans across the world have been dazzled by one particular breakout star: the “mop man”.

When a cleaner came out at half-time during a netball match to wipe down the court before the restart, everything appeared normal. But as the cleaner swept, and the first bars of Queen’s I Want to Break Free rang out in the venue, he went from sweeping to a standing split.

• Aziz Abdul disqualified for ‘Glasgow kiss’ in third round

• Ugandan boxer: ‘Why can’t they let this fight continue?’

The Commonwealth Games debut of Idi Amin’s grandson ended in ignominy and disgrace as the boxer was disqualified in the third round for head-butting his English opponent – and then launched a bitter verbal assault on the referee.

Things then took an even more bizarre turn as Aziz Abdul, a 25-year-old from Uganda, refused to speak to a journalist afterwards because of what he had written about the tyrannical dictator.

• Action, news and reaction on opening weekend

• 10 things to look out for at Glasgow 2026 | Mail Rob

I posted the Ramsay-Peaty report from last evening a few minutes ago, an d he’ll need to have recovered quickly, as he goes in the 50m breaststroke heats in this morning’s sesh. Back with the weightlifting final, meanwhile, Mboya goes for 115kg … and it’s up, but Chananbam of India just about gets there with 116 and takes the lead.

Our first netball match is over, Scotland beating Wales 56-47; they lost to NZ yesterday, but will hope to finish second in Pool B. In Pool A, England beat Norther Ireland 83-34, while Australia thumped Tonga 99-38.

• Ramsay-Peaty finishes third in 100m breaststroke

• ‘People who comment … you don’t know who I am’

Adam Ramsay-Peaty has never been someone to mask his feelings. But defeat has never sounded as emotional or as raw as this. There were tears. Frustrations. Questions about why he kept putting himself through the 5.30am starts at the age of 31.

And then came the crescendo in the form of a blistering attack on his critics on social media and the media. “You can’t hurt me,” he said, before telling them to “do better”. It was dramatic. It was powerful. And it was certainly heartfelt.

• Action, news and reaction on opening weekend

• McColgan pulls out | Sean McCann reaches final

• 10 things to look out for at Glasgow 2026 | Mail Will

The Australian netball team is in play, taking on Tonga, and leading 23-12 after the first quarter, the holders have been quick to hit form.

The Australian Cameron McEvoy, the reigning Olympic champion at 50m, finishes second in his heat, though second overall in terms of time, behind his heat-winner, Joshua Liendo. The top 16 go through to the semis.

• Teenager lands head-first during high bar routine

• Canada win men’s team gold, with England second

England’s bid for a fourth successive Commonwealth Games men’s artistic gymnastics team title ended with silver after a dramatic final overshadowed by an injury to the teenager Gabriel Langton, who was taken from the arena on a stretcher after a heavy fall from the high bar.

The 19-year-old fell head and neck first on to the mat during the final rotation of the team final, bringing competition to a halt as medical staff rushed to his aid. The arena fell silent while Langton received treatment, with fellow gymnasts watching on in visible concern.

The troubled Games looked doomed until Glasgow stepped in but this opening ceremony had plenty of feelgood factor

The Commonwealth Games in Glasgow opened on Thursday evening to the surreal sight of King Charles and Queen Camilla stepping out of a Tardis – and a mechanical Loch Ness monster roaring the first few bars of Flower of Scotland.

The Tardis was a nod to the fact that police boxes were designed by the Scottish architect Gilbert MacKenzie Trench. But the Doctor Who reference proved to be doubly apt given the Games faced being exterminated until Glasgow stepped in after Victoria pulled out due to financial pressures.

• Opening ceremony and several events yet to sell out

• Programme reduced from last time city hosted in 2014

Commonwealth Games organisers will hope for a late surge in ticket sales as Glasgow prepares to stage the opening ceremony on Thursday night, with seats still available across a number of events at the four competition venues despite the Games’ significantly reduced scale.

The opening ceremony at the OVO Hydro still had adult tickets available on Wednesday, with prices ranging from £45 to £95. The 13,000-capacity arena will host live music, the parade of nations and the arrival of all 74 Commonwealth batons. The six-time Olympic cycling champion Sir Chris Hoy, who revealed in 2024 that he has stage-four cancer, will also take part.

• Freestyle swimmer eligible through father Gerry

• Madeleine’s disappearance still under investigation

Madeleine McCann’s younger brother, Sean, has been selected to represent Scotland in swimming at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

McCann, a student at Loughborough University, is expected to compete in a number of longer-distance freestyle events when competition begins at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre on Thursday, and hopes a strong performance in Glasgow will strengthen his bid for selection to Team Great Britain for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. McCann is eligible to represent Scotland through his father, Gerry, who was born in Glasgow.