Hamish Turnbull is determined to end a running joke and finally win gold at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games. The cyclist from Morpeth has collected silver and bronze medals at European, Commonwealth, Olympic and world levels without standing on the top step of the podium, a record he shares with former British teammate Jack Carlin.
Strong Team England Sprint Squad
Turnbull is part of a formidable Team England men's sprint team that includes returning rider Joe Truman, former Australian rider Matthew Richardson, and debutant Harry Ledingham-Horn. Richardson defeated Turnbull and Truman in the men's team sprint final at Birmingham 2022 while riding for Australia, but has since switched to represent England, the country of his birth.
“It was a bit of a running joke with Jack in the British squad, he was a Scottish rider, but he won a lot of silver medals in his career,” Turnbull said. “And it's looking very similar for me, so to break out of that and to get the gold would be amazing. For Harry and I, it is especially important, but for Matthew, he's had his fair share of winning, so he'll take what he can get, but it will be really special.”
World and European Silver Medals
Together, Turnbull and his teammates have won world and European silver in the team sprint, losing to the Netherlands and France respectively. Neither of those nations will compete in Glasgow 2026, boosting England's chances. Turnbull praised Richardson's consistency: “I don't feel like Matthew feels he has got anything to prove, but he's really good at always putting his best foot forward at every single training session. He'll very rarely have a down day, he's so consistent, which is probably something that we as a nation were missing before he came. We're trying to figure out how we can match his consistency of intensity.”
National Lottery Support
British Cycling received a National Lottery grant of £75,000 for 17 competitive bikes ahead of Glasgow 2026. National Lottery players raise more than £33 million every week for good causes, supporting athletes like Turnbull. His medal-winning exploits began at Birmingham 2022 with silver, and he added an Olympic silver in the team sprint two years later.
Individual Ambitions
Turnbull has yet to win a major individual medal, but his main focus in Glasgow is the team sprint. “In team sprint, we are after the gold,” he said. “Individually, I've not raced much this year at all. To come away with an individual medal would be special. My main goal is to reach the second session of the sprint, which would be a top-four result, and if you're in the top four, then anything can happen.”
He also plans to compete in the keirin, describing it as “a bit of a lottery” but adding, “I've got some little tactics up my sleeve which might work, and I think I've got the legs to be there, so I'd like to reach every final.” Turnbull will also ride the kilo on the last day, his first attempt at the event. “I'll not be having any of that. I'll just be racing my sprint bike, so that's just a little bit of punishment at the end of the weekend because that event is agony! I'm not expecting anything from that, it's just a piece of fun.”
