Three\u2011time Paralympic gold medallist Anna Grimaldi has been selected for the New Zealand Team heading to the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, marking her debut at the event and making her the first athletics athlete confirmed for the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grimaldi will contest the Women\u2019s 100m T47, a classification included in the Commonwealth Games programme for the first time. She said the opportunity to finally compete at the Games was something she had long hoped for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Commonwealth Games has always been something I\u2019ve wanted to experience. I\u2019ve heard so much from other athletes and I\u2019m really looking forward to getting over to Glasgow and competing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fresh off her gold\u2011medal performance at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, Grimaldi said she was particularly excited about being part of a fully integrated New Zealand Team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s something really special about being part of a team where Para athletes and able\u2011bodied athletes compete together. It creates an environment where everyone is pushing for the same goal and supporting each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With selection confirmed, Grimaldi\u2019s focus now shifts to preparation. She will continue training in Dunedin until mid\u2011June before heading to Europe for several competitions in the lead\u2011up to Glasgow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New Zealand Olympic Committee Chief Executive Nicki Nicol said Grimaldi was an athlete who embodied the spirit of the New Zealand Team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnna competes with pride and supports those around her. It was wonderful to have her involved during our recent King\u2019s Baton Relay week, and we\u2019re thrilled to welcome her as our first athletics athlete for Glasgow,\u201d Nicol said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Athletics New Zealand CEO Cam Mitchell also congratulated Grimaldi, noting that more athletics selections will follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnna brings world\u2011class experience and a proven ability to perform on the biggest stages. We\u2019re delighted she is the first athlete named, and more announcements will come as we build towards Glasgow 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games run from 23 July to 2 August, with Para and able\u2011bodied athletes competing together across the full programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Explainer: <\/strong>\u201cAlthough Grimaldi competes at the same Commonwealth Games as able\u2011bodied athletes, her event sits within the Para athletics programme, where classifications are based on functional impact rather than which limb is affected.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Sarah McMillan\/cvnznews.com Three\u2011time Paralympic gold medallist Anna Grimaldi has been selected for the New Zealand Team heading to the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, marking her debut at the event and making her the first athletics athlete confirmed for the team. Grimaldi will contest the Women\u2019s 100m T47, a classification included in the Commonwealth Games<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[1085,233,1084,113],"coauthors":[380],"class_list":{"0":"post-12548","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-anna-grimaldi","9":"tag-athletics","10":"tag-commonwealth-games","11":"tag-new-zealand"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12548"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12551,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12548\/revisions\/12551"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12548"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=12548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}