Welsh hammer thrower Osian Jones broke his own Welsh record for a remarkable fourth time this season as he claimed a bronze medal on a sizzling Sunday at the British Athletics Championships in Birmingham. It was excellent day for Welsh athletes overall and the throwers in particular as Bethan Rees also claimed a bronze medal in the javelin. Liverpool Harrier Jones has enjoyed an exceptional season which has seen him extend his record from 71.62 to 73.89m.

Winter Paralympic gold medallist Menna Fitzpatrick and Commonwealth Games champion Hollie Arnold have both been nominated for the prestigious title of Sunday Times Disabled Sportswoman of the Year. The two Welsh heroines are up against some tough competition to carry off the title in the shape of triple European sprint champion Sophie Hahn, multi-gold medal winning swimmer Alice Tai and blind cyclist Sophie Thornhill.

Wales’ Hollie Arnold has claimed gold at the World Para Athletics European Championships to complete the grand slam of major javelin titles. Arnold added European gold to the Paralympic, World and Commonwealth titles she already holds.

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.

For the third Commonwealth Games in a row the Welsh women outperformed the men on the medal front, accounting for 54% of the record equalling 36 medals at Gold Coast. In another example of the huge advances being made at the highest levels by Wales’ elite sportswomen, they matched the men on the gold medal front in Australia.

Hollie Arnold saved her best till last to smash the world record in the F46 javelin to pick up Wales’ second para athletics gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. Hot on the heels of Olivia Breen’s golden leap in the long jump at the Carrara Stadium, the 23-year-old World and Paralympic champion held her nerve to see of New Zealand’s Holly Robinson in an epic battle. The 23-year-old Robinson threw down the gauntlet to the favourite from Wales in her opening round as she went 64 centimetres further than ever before with a world record throw of 43.32 metres. That added 30 centimetres to Arnold’s previous best world mark.

Welsh athletes took the opportunity to warm up for the Commonwealth Games by competing at the Queensland International Track Classic on Wednesday evening. The event attracted the likes of Jamaica’s Olympic 100m and 200m champion Elaine Thompson and compatriot Yohan Blake, along with English sprint stars Dina Asher-Smith, Adam Gemili and Zharnel Hughes, who ran the fastest 200m on Australian soil since 2001. The Welsh performance of the day went to Osian Jones, who smashed his nation’s hammer record on the way to finishing second in a quality field. 

Commonwealth Games Wales have today announced the first para-athletes selected for Team Wales ahead of next year’s Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. Six athletes have been chosen to compete for Wales in para-athletics at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

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.

Hollie Arnold has set her sights on Tokyo 2020 – and throwing over 50 metres – after defending her title with a world record display at the World Para Athletics Championships. Wales-based Arnold retained her women’s F46 javelin title at the London Stadium on Saturday night with 43.02 metres throw. Now she believes she can retain her Paralympic title won in Rio last year with a huge improvement in Japan in three year’s time.

Nine Welsh athletes – which makes up 20 per cent of the squad – have been selected as part of Team GB for the World Para Athletics Championships which starts in London on July 14 and runs through to July 23. Paralympic champions Aled Sion Davies and Hollie Arnold are there, but Rob Cole profiles Laura Sugar, who has given up her career and her first sport in order to chase medals on the track. The first time Laura Sugar went to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London she enjoyed a eureka moment that changed her life. She went as a spectator in 2012, but five years on she will return as part of the British team at the IPC World Championships. On her first visit she thought to herself, ‘I can do that’, now she intends to prove she can by winning a medal.

Nine Welsh athletes have been named in the GB squad for the World Para-Athletics Championship in London. The nine are part of a 49-strong squad for the championships which take place from July 14-23.