Non Stanford’s hopes of getting Wales’ Commonwealth Games campaign off to a medal winning start were dashed on the Gold Coast on Thursday morning. The 29-year-old finished eighth in the triathlon at the Southport Broadwater Parklands as Bermuda’s hot favourite Flora Duffy took gold,

The National governing body for boating in Wales is setting up a new charity to ensure people of all ages and backgrounds get more opportunities to make waves. RYA Cymru Wales is setting up the All Afloat charity to open up a new pathway into sailing or windsurfing for communities that would not normally engage with boating.

As most of Wales is tucked up in bed on Wednesday night, Team Wales captain Non Stanford will attempt to kick-start the Welsh medal surge on the Gold Coast in the women’s triathlon. Four years ago the former women’s world champion was denied the chance to compete in Glasgow through injury. Since then she has finished fourth at the Olympic Games in Rio and will have a medal very much in mind to inspire her team. In 2014 there were two medals for England as Jodie Stimpson struck gold and Vicky Holland came home behind Canadian Kirsten Sweetland to take bronze. But can anyone beat Bermuda’s Flora Duffy this time?

Ethan Vernon is no ordinary schoolboy. After all, the Team Wales sprint cyclist has already got a sack full of medals from British and European championships and is now in hot pursuit of a Commonwealth gong on the Gold Coast. Not bad for a 17-year-old with exams on the horizon, but what really sets him apart from other boys at Bedford School is what he does to get there. No late alarm call, toast on the walk to the bus, or a crafty bit of homework before first lesson.

Cardiff Devils must beware the comeback kings in Saturday’s Elite League play-off semi-finals at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham. Number one seeds Devils take on a Flyers team who finished seventh, but those stats hide the fact that Kirkcaldy-Based Fife left Manchester Storm stunned last weekend when they fought back from 4-1 down after the […]

Newport County will head to Chesterfield on Mayday for their rearranged League Two clash with the Derbyshire club. Manager Michael Flynn and his players will hope they are still in contention for a play-offs place when they head north. County are 12th in League Two with seven games left to play, 11 points outside the […]

More than 500 Cardiff Devils attended Cardiff City Hall for the Elite League club’s awards night. Canadian forward Joey Martin was the big winner with three trophies, lifting the club’s leading scorer (27 goals + 46 assists = 73 points), forward of the year and most valuable player. The 29-year-old has enjoyed a remarkable four […]

Eloise Laity has already gone further in the 2018 Commonwealth Games than she did four years ago in Glasgow. In 2014 the Welsh hockey midfielder was forced to fly home on the day of the opening ceremony after badly injuring her knee in the final warm-up match before the competition. That was against India, Wales’ first opponents in the Gold Coast on Thursday. “The injury happened in the last training game before the competition started, and the day before the opening ceremony four years ago. I slipped and tore my cartilage,” said Laity.

Two of the most prominent figures in Welsh sporting circles have been appointed to top positions on the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame committee.  Professor Laura McAllister CBE has taken over from the former First Minister, Rhodri Morgan, as chair following his death in 2017, while golden great Lynn Davies CBE has agreed to fill the new post of President. Professor McAllister, 53, won 24 caps for the Welsh women’s football team, captaining the side on a number of occasions, and was the hugely successful and influential Chair of Sport Wales between 2010 and March 2016. She is currently Professor of Public Policy and the Governance of Wales at Cardiff University and is a member of the Institute of Welsh Affairs. 

Black Country boy Sam Wedgbury insists Wrexham can put their ‘sloppy’ moments behind them and earn promotion to the Football League this season. The Dragons are fourth in the Vanarama National League and Wedgbury, from Oldbury in the West Midlands, admits: “The title has gone. “We have to cement the play-offs now. Too many draws […]

Mid Wales racing driver Ben Power celebrated his 28th birthday with two race wins, as the UK National Legends Car Championship with MRF Tyres moved to the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent. He would have been in with a chance of three wins but slowed down when running second with a lap to go, thinking the race was over.

Michaela Breeze was a Wales Commonwealth Games legend, but now Sinead Breeze has her chance to shine. Rob Cole charts the journey of the Wales rugby player from netball write-off to Gold Coast medal hope. Wales women’s sevens player Sinead Breeze knows exactly what a Commonwealth Games gold medal looks like and what it takes to win one. There are two in her Swansea home, along with a couple of silvers and a bronze, won by her wife, Michaela, during her record-breaking career as a weightlifter.

Coleg Sir Gar provide six players to the Wales U18 starting XV to face Irish Schools U18 in the second round of the U18 Six Nations Festival at Cardiff Arms Park on Wednesday, 4 April (2.30pm kick-off). Back row man Jac Morgan leads the Welsh team for the second game in a row and only he and lock Teddy Williams remain in their original position from the 22-14 defeat to France last weekend. Morgan is one of seven Scarlets in the matchday squad who lifted the Regional Age Grade title this season. Harri Doel switches from wing to full back and Joe Roberts starts alongside his Sir Gar team mate Osian Knott at centre. Prop Callum Lewis starts at loose head and Jac Price packs down behind him with Morgan in the back row.

Australian sport is in need of a PR make-over following the ball-tampering row with their cricketers and Gold Coast 2018 chairman Peter Beattie is hoping the Commonwealth Games can restore his nation’s tarnished reputation. The actions of Aussie cricket skipper Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft brought shame on themselves and their country, their lengthy bans underlining the seriousness of the level of ‘cheating’ involved. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and the Australian Sports Commission both weighed in with strong opinions in the storm that followed the uncovering of the cricket scandal. Now, Beattie is hoping the 21st Commonwealth Games will earn a gold star as a cheat-free zone.

Leah Wilkinson makes a record 142nd appearance for Wales when the women’s hockey team get their Commonwealth Games campaign underway on Thursday – but it will also be a first. The vastly-experienced defender will be skippering the team for the maiden time in the Pool opener against India at the Gold Coast Hockey Centre.

Reigning MSA Junior Rallycross champion Tom Llewellin was denied a possible victory in the Swift Sport Championship when he was tagged by another car and forced into the gravel trap in the Final at Lydden Hill. The 16-year old from Haverfordwest – younger brother of Team Wales Commonwealth Games skeet shooter Ben Llewellin – is contesting the single-make British Rallycross Championship feeder series this year. Despite the atrocious weather conditions over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, Llewellin was driving extremely well and making good progress – finishing sixth, fifth and fourth in the three Heats to qualify for the Semi Final. He then finished a flying second to give himself an all-important place in the Final.

The West Wales-based Spencer Sport team continues to lead the British Rallycross Championship after another successful event – this time at the famous Lydden Hill circuit in Kent. Having scored maximum points at the opening race at Silverstone, five-time British Rallycross Champion Julian Godfrey was keen to see what the squad’s Mitsubishi Mirage RX Supercar was capable of on a track he knows well – and he wasn’t disappointed. The 600bhp two-litre turbocharged rocket, which is prepared at Spencer Sport’s workshop in the small village of Penrhiwllan, near Llandysul, was by far the fastest car off the start line – enabling Godfrey to finish on the podium in both the opening two Heats. He was then leading Heat 3, before a collision with Mark Higgins denied him a race victory.

With the Commonwealth Games poised to begin in Australia, Owen Morgan salutes the Welsh competitors who all put a shift in even before they get to the track, pool, or stadium. The athletic exploits of working class comic book hero Alf Tupper thrilled and enthralled generations of youngsters throughout the 1950s, 60s, 70s and beyond. By night, the “Tough of the Track” would tackle mammoth welding jobs, often in makeshift workshops under railway arches.

Double Olympic swimming medallist Jazz Carlin is the 2018 Commonwealth Games Team Wales flag bearer. Carlin will lead a 200+ strong Team Wales at the Gold Coast 2018 Opening Ceremony in Carrara Stadium.

Penarth Hockey Club’s bid for a third successive cup final appearance came up one round short but, having been elevated into the highest strata of club competition, the Bears’ underdog performance was still one of note with an eye to the future. Cardiff & Met 6-2 PENARTH The Firsts promotion to the GoCrea8 League Championship division for 2017-18 not only positioned them two steps from National League hockey, but also meant elevation to the highest tier of cup competition within the Principality and, despite having appeared in back-to-back Welsh Trophy finals in the last two seasons, all involved knew that this latest adventure would require another step up in performance.