Glasgow: Kady Dandeneau and Ryan Bester to lead Team Canada at Commonwealth Games opening ceremony

By Liam Tremblay — 22 July 2026 — 4 min read

Kady Dandeneau of Pender Island and Ryan Bester are set to lead Team Canada into the Opening Ceremony of the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Dandeneau, a member of Canada’s women’s 3×3 wheelchair basketball team, will serve as the flag bearer, while Bester, a lawn bowler, will carry the team baton. The ceremony is scheduled for Thursday.

Dandeneau expressed her honour at representing Team Canada and the Canadian sport community. She hopes her role inspires young athletes, particularly those in adaptive sport, to pursue their goals. Dandeneau previously competed with Canada’s first 3×3 women’s wheelchair basketball team at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where they secured a gold medal.

Bester, participating in his seventh Commonwealth Games, holds a Canadian record for appearances. He has earned silver medals in men’s singles in 2014 and 2018, along with a bronze in 2006. Originally from Hanover, Ontario, Bester moved to Australia two decades ago to further his career in lawn bowls. He is also the reigning world champion, having defeated Ireland’s Gary Kelly in 2023.

Canadian Athletes to Watch

The 2026 Commonwealth Games, running from July 23 to August 2, will feature over 3,000 athletes from 74 countries and territories. Team Canada comprises 148 athletes, including 35 Para athletes competing in disciplines such as 3×3 wheelchair basketball, Para swimming, Para athletics, and Para lawn bowls. Six Para sports are included in the Games, contributing to the overall medal count for each nation.

Several athletes from Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands will represent Team Canada. Among them is Ethan Katzberg of Nanaimo, who will compete in the men’s hammer throw. Katzberg previously won a silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and a world championship title in Budapest the following year. He also earned gold at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games with an 84.12-metre throw, and later broke his own record and the world championship record with an 84.70-metre throw in Tokyo.

Michael Barber of Victoria, B.C., will represent Team Canada in the men’s 1500m T20 event. Barber placed ninth in the men’s T20 1500m at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships in Paris, setting a personal best and a Canadian record with a finishing time of 3:58.64. His father, Gary Barber, also ran for Team Canada at the 1990 Commonwealth Games.

In Para swimming, Mary Jibb, who trains with the Pacific Seawolves Swim Club, will represent Canada. Jibb, at 18 years of age, secured Canada’s first gold medal of the week on the second day of the 2025 Toyota World Para Swimming Championships in the women’s 200-metre individual medley SM9.

Games Format and Expectations

The Commonwealth Games in Glasgow will feature 10 sports: artistic gymnastics, athletics, 3×3 basketball, boxing, judo, lawn bowls, netball, swimming, track cycling, and weightlifting. This reduced schedule follows the withdrawal of Australia’s Victoria state government as host in 2023 due to hosting costs. Para competition will be held in athletics, 3×3 basketball, bowls, swimming, track cycling, and weightlifting.

The lawn bowls competition will take place indoors on an artificial surface, a new format for the Games. This change aims to make the competition more engaging for spectators and potentially open up opportunities for more countries to win medals. The format for singles games has also been shortened, moving from games won by the first to 21 points, which could last up to two hours, to two seven-end sets with a one-end tiebreaker if needed, reducing game time to about an hour. These format adjustments are part of an effort to include bowls in the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane.

Team Canada is projected by Commonwealth Sport Canada to rank among the top three nations in total medals. Canada has participated in every Commonwealth Games since hosting the inaugural event in Hamilton in 1930, and currently ranks third on the all-time Games medal table. In 2022, Canadian athletes earned 92 medals, placing third behind Australia and England.

The Canadian track team in Glasgow includes 25 Olympians, who collectively hold 21 Olympic medals. Notable athletes on the track team include sprinters Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney, and Jerome Blake, decathlete Damian Warner, hammer throwers Camryn Rogers and Ethan Katzberg, and shot putter Sarah Mitton. Swimmers Kylie Masse and Josh Liendo, along with weightlifter Maude Charron, are also competing at the Games, which begin on July 23.

Source: cheknews.ca