Nine Welsh athletes have been named in the Great Britain team for the World Para Athletics European Championships in Germany next month. The team heading to Berlin includes a trio of Welsh world champions in the shape of Olivia Breen, Hollie Arnold and Aled Davies. Breen won gold in the T38 long jump at the IPC World Championships in London and finished on top of the podium again for Wales at this year’s Commonwealth Games.

Bethan Davies proved she is on course for a medal shot at the Commonwealth Games in two months’ time as she smashed another British record to strike gold over 5K at the British Indoor Championships on Sunday. The Cardiff race walker, who had joined in the 10th anniversary celebrations of parkrun in the Welsh capital the day before, led her Team Wales team mate Heather Lewis home at Birmingham in a UK best time of 21 min, 25.37 sec. It was four seconds short of her lifetime best over the distance outdoors and was a timely boost ahead of her assault on the Commonwealth title on the Gold Cost. Lewis had the silver medal snatched from her grasp when she was disqualified after the race, although there was a Welsh Under 20 record performance for Swansea’s Megan Stratton-Thomas (27.55.39) in seventh place.

Bob Fowden is celebrating 40 years in rallying this year, and far from slowing down the popular Llanelli driver is aiming for two titles in 2018, driving his ex-Petter Solberg Subaru Impreza WRC S11.

Cardiff sprinter Sam Gordon saved the best until last as he rounded off a thrilling afternoon’s action at the National Indoor Athletics Centre in Cardiff with a record-breaking win in the men’s 60metre sprint. The final event of the Welsh Indoor Athletics Championships on Saturday saw Gordon lining up against England’s World, European and Commonwealth medallist Harry Aikines Aryeetey.

Not for the first time Gareth Bale found himself playing second fiddle to a rugby player named as Welsh Sports Personality of the Year. Two years ago it was a rather embarrassed Dan Biggar who picked up the prize ahead of the Wales and Real Madrid superstar at the Wales Sport Awards. This time, it was Jonathan Davies who took the title from a shortlist that once again included the 2017 Champions League winner.

Wales scrum-half Aled Davies is to become the second current international to leave the Scarlets for the Ospreys. The 25-year-old – who started for Wales against South Africa last Saturday – will join Scott Williams in moving from the current Guinness Pro14 champions to join their struggling neighbours. Like Williams, five-times capped Davies wants more starting time, having found himself in the shadow of fellow Wales international Gareth Davies.

Hadleigh Parkes has been told to hit the ground running when he make his debut for Wales – or risk being overtaken by Owen Watkin. New Zealand-born Parkes  – from Hunterville, Manawatu in the country’s North Island – will make his first Test appearance in Saturday’s Principality Stadium clash against South Africa on the day the 30-year-old qualifies for his adopted country on residency. But if the Scarlets centre already knew the clock was ticking on his international career with a late start, then Wales coach Warren Gatland has told him he is under pressure from Watkin, who is nine years younger at 21.

It has to be one of the saddest, yet most inspirational sports stories of the year, the passing of former Team Wales Commonwealth Games judo player Jamie McDonald. That someone so young and so talented should finally lose his fight against cancer at the young age of 26 is tragic. The way in which he stood up to the disease, refused to give in and made the most of the final two years of his life was typically courageous. “I think the mentality of a judo battle, that’s the way I’m treating this. You go down, you get up, you keep fighting. You know that with every judo fight there’s going to be an end, a winner and a loser. I suppose you kind of have that with cancer as well, you might lose at the end but I’m going to get a few big throws in along the way.” Jamie McDonald, 2017

Dewi Griffiths has been included among the Olympic Podium Potential athletes who will receive funding from British Athletics for 2017/18. It is another major step forward for the 26-year-old Swansea Harrier, who marked his marathon debut with a brilliant fifth place finish in Frankfurt last month in 2:09.49 is among 112 athletes who have been offered membership to UK Sport’s National Lottery funded World Class Programme. The initiative is aimed at supporting the delivery of success at the world’s most significant sporting events. Specifically, during the Tokyo cycle, the aim is to win medals at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Warren Gatland has put his faith in the boldness of youth with five uncapped players in his squad for the November Tests. It’s an uncharacteristic shifting of faith – in both players and playing style from the Wales coach, but Robin Davey says it reflects both individual form and the changing dynamics within regional rugby. Out with the old, in with the new – the clear theme of Tuesday’s Wales squad announcement for the autumn internationals as coach Warren Gatland prepares for his World Cup swansong in Japan in 2019. Out go Jamie Roberts, Gethin Jenkins (though he’s been sidelined with a knee injury and hasn’t played since April), Luke Charteris and Scott Wiiliams with a combined total of 344 caps and an average age of 32.

The Scarlets gave three-time champions Toulon an almighty fright after letting them race into an 18 point lead as they took the lead in the second half before finally falling 21-20.

Aled Davies believes his second gold medal at the World Para-athletics Championships has eclipsed his efforts in Rio last year. Davies smashed the world record on his way to a winning the F42 shot put in London on Saturday night. He threw a World Championships record of 16.02 metres in his first attempt and followed it up with a world record throw of 17.52m.