By Tom Prosser  Harriet Jones will be competing in the opening weekend at the Tokyo Olympics but the Welsh 100m butterfly star began her journey in Cardiff when thrown in at the deep end – though, not literally – by her mum. “My Mum made me go swimming to just get a life skill, basically,” says the 24-year-old, who is part of a super six half dozen swimmers from Swim Wales who made the Great Britain squad. “I used to jump into the pool when I was younger with no armbands on. She used to hate me for that.”

There have been many Welsh Olympic memories over the years and there’s sure to be many new ones created over the next few weeks in Tokyo, Fraser Watson takes a look at the high’s and low’s of the years gone by. So, never before has Wales boasted so much representation for an Olympic Games held outside of the UK. And never before, has there been an Olympic Games so clouded by uncertainty and trepidation.

Hannah Mills has admitted to feeling “overwhelmed” by the honour of carrying the flag at Friday’s opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games. Wales’ Olympic champion and Mohamed Sbihi have been named as Team GB’s first joint flag bearers. The pair will share the honour following a directive by the International Olympic Committee in March 2020 where each team could have a flagbearer to represent both genders.

Lukas Carey was the hero at Sophia Gardens for the second time in three days as he once again hit the winning runs to enable Glamorgan to snatch victory on Thursday. On Tuesday it was his 29 not out that steered the Wales Minor Counties team to victory over Glamorgan in a friendly and two days later he hit successive boundaries to secure a two wicket win for the Welsh county over Warwickshire in the first round of the Royal London Cup with two balls to spare. Glamorgan captain Kiran Carlson said: “It was a tough loss to take on Tuesday against the Wales County XI, but the way the boys upped their attitude and bounced back was pleasing to see.

Another four Welsh athletes have been named in the Great Britain team for the Tokyo Paralympics, taking the total to a magnificent seven. Reigning Paralympic champions Aled Davies and Hollie Arnold, along with Sabrina Fortune had already been named in the first wave of selections last month. They will be joined on the plane to Japan by Harrison Walsh, Olivia Breen, Harri Jenkins and Kyron Duke after the final 42-strong team was announced on Wednesday.

By Tom Prosser Welsh Fire head coach Gary Kirsten can’t wait for his side to get their Hundred campaign underway at Headingley on Saturday and hopes the tournament can help to progress the careers of county players who are yet to appear in international or franchise cricket. The vastly experienced coach previously won the World Cup with India in 2011 and has coached in short form cricket all around the world including the IPL in India and the Big Bash in Australia. He is now eager for the Hundred to help accelerate the progress of county players such as Glamorgan’s David Lloyd.

By Paul Jones Three of the top Wales internationals will be strangely hoping they miss out on this year’s men’s Welsh Amateur Championship, including defending champion Archie Davies. That’s because Davies and fellow internationals James Ashfield and Matt Roberts have got prized invitations to the Cazoo Open supported by Gareth Bale and if they make the cut to play over the weekend they will miss the Stroke Play stages of the Welsh Amateur at Pyle and Kenfig. It means they may miss the chance to be part of a bumper field of 140 when the top men’s event in Welsh amateur golf returns after a two year gap following last season’s Covid cancellation, the previous time the event missed a year was during World War II.

Alun Wyn Jones has admitted he thought his Lions tour was over even before the rest of the squad had reached the airport to fly to South Africa. The captain believed his shoulder dislocation suffered in the pre-tour win over Japan had pulled the curtains on his chances of leading his team into the three-Test series. Instead, the 35-year-old Wales second row – who has already made 157 international appearances – will make his 10th Test outing for the British & Irish Lions when he captains the side to face the world champion Springboks at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.

Steve Cooper was encouraged to sign a new contract with Swansea City before it was mutually agreed he should leave, according to the club. The Swans – who have already been linked with QPR assistant manager John Eustace, Lincoln City’s Michael Appleton and MK Dons’ Russell Martin – confirmed on Wednesday evening that Cooper had left The Liberty Stadium after two years in charge. It’s a departure that seemed likely when the Swans failed to win promotion to the Premier League in May after losing their play-off final to Brentford after the Welsh head coach was linked with a number of other jobs.

The British and Irish Lions have brought forward their team announcement for Saturday’s first Test against South Africa by 24 hours. Warren Gatland will name his starting XV and bench for the Cape Town Stadium showdown on Wednesday morning, with tour captain Alun Wyn Jones expected to lead the side after recovering from a dislocated shoulder. It follows in the footsteps of the Springboks, who also revised their schedule by unveiling their 23 on Tuesday rather than Wednesday.

Former Cork City goalkeeper Noel Mooney has pledged to make the FAW “one of the best football associations, globally” after being appointed as their new chief executive. Mooney, who played for Limerick, Cork and Shamrock Rovers in the League of Ireland, is joining from UEFA, where he currently works as head of strategic development. He succeeds Jonathan Ford, who stood down at the end of March after he had been placed on gardening leave in February. He had been in post for 12 years.

By Tom Prosser Welsh duo Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton won the World Cup of Darts as a team last year but tonight they are set to do battle in the last 16 of the prestigious World Matchplay tournament in Blackpool. This match not only brings two Welshman together but two of the most in-form players in the world on current form. Price is the world number one and current world champion whilst Clayton has won both the Masters and the Premier League within the last six months.

By James Skeldon Hamish Rutherford is looking forward to hitting the ground running and concluding the rest of the season with Glamorgan on a high note. The New Zealander is available for selection for the One-Day Cup as well as the remainder of the County Championship games. This will be Rutherford’s fourth stint in English cricket. He has already had seasons with Worcestershire, Derbyshire and Essex.

By Rob Cole  Matt Richards has already proven himself to be the fastest of the record ‘Super Six’ Welsh swimmers in Tokyo, but few knew that the speed he hopes will carry him onto the podium was honed in a paddling pool in his back garden last year.   When lockdown hit last year the rising star of the Swim Wales National Squad had to leave his training centre at Bath University and returned to the family home in the west Midlands.  

By Carl Field Driven. Determined. Resilient. Three words that perfectly sum up talented gymnast Olivia Gauregui who, it is fair to say, has already overcome so much – in order to achieve so much – in her life so far. Gauregui, from Newport, who turned 16 at the end of May, spent much of her childhood in and out of hospital as she battled to overcome both cancer and a life-threatening soya allergy. Last year she received the honour of becoming the first Welsh gymnast to be selected for Great Britain for the TeamGym European Championships.

Elfyn Evans finished a frustrated fifth on Rally Estonia – but at least with Sébastien Ogier only finishing one place ahead of him, the result has not cost him much in the battle for the FIA World Rally Championship title. Evans started the event lying second in the drivers’ standings, 34 points behind series leader Ogier – and he remains second, 37 points behind. Neither of them could match the pace of their Toyota team-mate Kalle Rovanperä, who became – at 20 years and 290 days old – the youngest driver to win a round of the WRC.

Osian Perrin finished fifth in the 5,000m final at the European Under-20 Athletics Championships in Estonia. With the race run in high temperatures in Tallinn, the Menai Track and Field athlete produced a valiant effort to get amongst the medals. The only Welsh athlete in the Great Britain squad for the championships crossed the line in 14:39.18.

By Tom Prosser Matthew Screech insists it was a dream come true to finally win his first Wales cap at the Principality Stadium yesterday. The giant second-row has been consistently excellent for the Dragons over the past few seasons with his all action displays catching the eye of Wayne Pivac.

By Tom Prosser Wales lost 33-11 to Argentina as Wayne Pivac’s men suffered a series defeat to the South Americans at a very warm Principality Stadium. After an eventful draw last week, this match was set up perfectly but Wales struggled to get going throughout. Argentina controlled the game through their strong forward play and were guided to victory through the reliable boot of Nicolas Sanchez.

Wales captain Jonathan Davies is keen to get the job done this weekend in their second match in two weeks against Argentina. After a disappointing 20-20 draw seven days ago – a match Wales will feel aggrieved to have not won – Saturday’s fixture in Cardiff is an opportunity for redemption for Wayne Pivac’s men. Wales have fielded a relatively new side with seven changes being made. Most notably, newly capped Tom Rogers returning to the left wing, there is a new set of props in Gareth Thomas and Leon on Brown, as well as the revised half-back pairing of Tomos Williams and Jarrod Evans, who impressed off the bench last weekend.