Sri Lanka attended their first Commonwealth Games in 1938 in Sydney, then known as British Empire's Games, and celebrated by taking a boxing gold back home. This first medal was won by boxer W.A. Henricas. Since 1990 Sri Lanka have attended all the Games.

In 1950 at the British Empire Games held in Auckland New Zealand, Sri Lanka recorded an impressive medal haul, winning four medals (one gold, two silver and a bronze) in 1950. After this there was a long medal drought, the next success was the Victoria Games in 1994 where Sri Lanka won five medals, their largest medal haul at a single games.

In 1998, hurdler Sriyani Kulawansa became the first Sri Lankan female track and field athlete to win a silver medal in the 100m-hurdles. At the same games 400m runner Sugath Thilakaratne took silver.

Sri Lanka at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games

Sri Lanka finished in a tie for seventeenth at Glasgow 2026, the first Commonwealth Games staged with a reduced program of 10 sports. Sri Lanka won 1 gold and 1 silver for 2 medals in total, level on the medal table with Jersey and Samoa.

Both medals came in athletics. Former cricketer Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage claimed gold in the javelin, while Palitha Bandara took silver in the men's para discus. The final medal standings, with Sri Lanka's placing, are shown below.

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Australia 70 45 56 171
2 England 29 45 36 110
3 Canada 19 20 23 62
4 India 13 17 9 39
5 Scotland 13 9 17 39
6 New Zealand 10 14 12 36
7 Nigeria 10 7 7 24
8 Jamaica 10 4 5 19
9 Wales 9 10 12 31
10 Malaysia 8 3 5 16
11 South Africa 7 11 10 28
12 Northern Ireland 3 4 9 16
13 Kenya 3 4 5 12
14 Cyprus 1 5 6 12
15 Mauritius 1 2 1 4
16 Cameroon 1 1 3 5
17 Jersey 1 1 0 2
17 Samoa 1 1 0 2
17 Sri Lanka 1 1 0 2

Trivia

  • The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) joined the Commonwealth in 1948. Sri Lanka took part as Ceylon in the years 1938, 1950, 1958 and 1970. They changed their name from Ceylon to Sri Lanka in 1972.
  • Sri Lanka has not taken part in the Commonwealth Games on four occasions (1974, 1982, 1986 and 1990).
  • Sri Lanka's largest medal haul of five medals in 1994 were all won by shooters.
  • Sri Lanka's first female representation at a Commonwealth Games was KG Bandra at the 1970 Games in Edinburgh.