Tanzania, July 8 -- Dar es Salaam. Tanzania will compete at the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games without some of its most established distance runners after Alphonce Simbu, Gabriel Geay, Emmanuel Giniki and Magdalena Shauri were left out of the national athletics squad.

The four athletes, who have been among Tanzania's leading performers on the international stage, will not be part of the team scheduled to depart for Scotland on July 20 ahead of the multi-sport event, which will run from July 23 to August 2.

The absence of Simbu and Geay will be a major blow to Tanzania's hopes in long-distance events. Simbu won a silver medal in the marathon at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, while Geay has established himself as o...