Malawi Commonwealth Games Association has attributed Malawi’s continued medal drought at the Commonwealth Games to several factors, including inadequate funding and failure to identify and nurture talent.
The association’s secretary general Henry Sakala said this in an interview after Team Malawi returned from the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games in Scotland empty-handed for the umpteenth time.
He also cited lack of competitive domestic competitions
Sakala challenged national sports associations to intensify grassroots talent identification and improve the technical capacity of coaches.
“Associations must work tirelessly to identify new talent across the country,” he said. “There are many young people in villages with the potential to win medals for Malawi. Organising more local competitions is one way of discovering and developing that talent.”
The just-ended Commonwealth Games have extended Malawi’s wait for a medal at the multi-sport event to 40 years.
Despite athlete Asimenye Simwaka reaching the women’s 200 metres (m) 400m semi-finals and boxer Elias Bonzo qualifying for the quarter-finals, there was not much to show for Team Malawi.
Malawi last won Commonwealth Games medals in 1986, claiming two bronze medals via boxers Chikoya Mphande and Solomon Kondowe. Those remain the country’s most recent podium finishes, bringing its overall tally to three medals after its first bronze medal in 1970 through another boxer Tatu Chionga.
Sports analyst Parry Chinyama also blamed the country’s disappointing performance on inadequate sporting infrastructure and limited technical expertise across several disciplines.
“We do not have the technical infrastructure that enables athletes to build the endurance required to compete at that level,” he said. “Secondly, we lack technical expertise, particularly in coaching across many sporting disciplines. A combination of these factors explains why Malawi has gone so long without winning a Commonwealth Games medal.”
Commonwealth Games records show that Malawi ranks among the bottom three African nations in terms of medals won at the Games.
South Africa leads the continent with 438 medals, followed by Nigeria with 295. Among Malawi’s neighbours, Zambia has won 44 medals, Tanzania 24 and Mozambique nine despite only joining the Commonwealth in 1995. Zimbabwe has collected 29 medals, while Botswana has won 19.
The next Commonwealth Games are scheduled for 2030 while the Commonwealth Youth Games will be held in 2027, presenting Malawi with another opportunity to rebuild and end its four-decade medal drought.
