By Harry Corish Issy Morris has always loved sport – any sport – and the Welsh triathlete believes that passion can enrich life for everyone. Morris, from Crickhowell in Powys, will be competing for Team Wales at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, which starts on July 28. But the 22-year-old tried a wide variety of […]

By Harry Corish Glamorgan Cricket has signed New Zealand slow left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel as an overseas player for the final four matches of the LV= County Championship season. The spinner comes in for the departing Michael Neser, who has enjoyed another excellent season in the Welsh capital, taking 33 wickets at at 25.81 at […]

As his mother broke down in tears, Britain’s first gold medalist at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, 1500 metre runner Jake Wightman, at least had his father to count on to remain professional. As he came from nowhere to beat the reigning Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the 28-year-old Wightman was shocked and proud in equal measure. But nowhere near as proud as his parents. While Welsh mum Susan, his former PE teacher, was watching nervously, dad Geoff, his coach, was actually commentating on the race at the stadium. 

When Geraint Thomas finishes the Tour de France and heads to the start line for the Commonwealth Games road race in Birmingham, it will be a chance for many people in Wales to reflect on how they helped him get there. Wales’ greatest-ever male cyclist will be going for gold, powered by his own talent and the funding supplied by everyone who has ever bought a ticket for the National Lottery. In fact, National Lottery funding could be said to have nurtured the former Tour de France winner’s journey from an eight-year-old boy in Cardiff to podiums on the Champs-Elysees and, hopefully, in central Birmingham.

Izzy Webb believes Wales are good shape as they head towards Birmingham and their hunt for hockey success at the Commonwealth Games. Webb was part of the Wales women’s team that tied the three-match series against South Africa following a 1-0 defeat in Cardiff on Tuesday. Wales had earlier beaten their opponents, 1-0, in the first clash – where Great Britain international Sarah Jones made her 100th appearance for her country – before a goalless draw in game two.

Beth Kidger has been added to Wales’ Commonwealth Games athletics team following the withdrawal of Charlotte Arter on medical grounds. Arter, the women’s parkrun world record holder and Welsh record holder at half marathon, 5k and 10k. was due to compete in the 5,000m and 10,000m in Birmingham.

By Harry Corish Growing up in Llanelli, Elizabeth Popova was in awe of the older gymnasts at her gym. So much so, that as a toddler she would copy and learn their routines, beginning a lifelong love for the gym and rhythmic gymnastics. But the Carmarthen-born 15-year-old – who will be among the youngest athletes […]

By Harry Corish Betsy Creak is living proof that self-belief can take you a long way in sport – all the way to international caps for Wales. The Bath netball star – who will be part of the Wales squad facing South Africa in back-to-back matches this week – came late to the elite end […]

Elfyn Evans was on scintillating form on Rally Estonia, yet having been uncatchable in the early stages of the event the Dolgellau ace had to settle for second – a result which moves him up to third in the FIA World Rally Championship drivers’ standings. Evans set an electrifying pace by setting the fastest time on all five of Friday’s opening fast gravel stages, establishing a lead of almost 20 seconds. 

Joe Brier says the time for developing is over. Now it’s time to deliver on the big stage. The Welsh 400m runner was speaking after competing at his first World Athletics Championships in Oregon. The Swansea Harrier gave the Great Britain Mixed Relay squad a brilliant start running the first leg in a high quality first round heat on the opening day of the championships.

The baby-faced assassin and the girl who beat asthma will bid to continue their dominance of Welsh domestic triathlon competition this weekend. Luke Richards and Carys Mai Hughes lead the respective men’s and women’s standings in the Welsh Triathlon Super Series, which resumes in Pembrokeshire on Saturday. Both will be looking to stay clear of the chasers when the series hits Broadhaven with the Bluestone Pembrokeshire Coast Triathlon, highlights of which will be shown on S4C.

Welsh women’s artistic gymnasts Ruby Evans and Evie Flage-Donovan have been backed to make the most of their first Olympic experience. The pair have been selected as part of Team GB for the 2022 Summer European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) taking place in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia this month. The Clwb Cymru Caerdydd duo, both 15, are among six British gymnasts who are part of a squad of 40 young athletes who will compete for Team GB at the event from 24 to 30 July.

By Graham Thomas Natalie Powell is used to slamming opponents into the ground, but the Welsh judo star admits it was a personal battle over her own identity that left her properly floored. The Commonwealth champion of 2014 will finally get a chance to defend her title in Birmingham this month, but the absence of […]

A Magnificent Seven Welsh youngsters have been selected in the Team GB squad to take part in the 2022 European Youth Olympic Festival in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia.  Team GB are taking a squad of 40 athletes to compete in the competition between 24-30 July. They will be part of an event that will involve 3,500 athletes and officials from 48 European nations who will compete in 10 Olympic sports.  The athletes are all aged 13-18 at the event and will take part in five sports – badminton, cycling, gymnastics, judo, and swimming. Athletics, basketball, handball, tennis, and volleyball complete the sporting programme.  

Welsh hockey star Sarah Jones will mark a huge milestone in her career as she plays in her 100th international game against South Africa on Saturday. Cardiff-born Jones made her senior debut for Wales in 2011 against Scotland and has been a mainstay of the team ever since. Having played in the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games, she is heading for her third consecutive appearance this summer in Birmingham.

The Commonwealth Games begins in Birmingham on July 28, where Wales will be aiming to improve on their record-breaking medal tally achieved at the Gold Coast in Australia four years ago. Dai Sport will be at the Games, following the fortunes of all the Welsh athletes we regularly feature on our site. In the countdown, we’ll be profiling a number of Team Wales members, starting today with Heather Lewis, the race walker who arrived late but is striding to make up for lost time, as she tells Harry Corish. The Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games were Team Wales’s most successful Games, winning 36 medals (10 Gold, 12 Silver, 14 Bronze), and finishing 7th on the medal table. Heather Lewis will be walking tall for Wales at the Commonwealth Games – and proving it’s never too late to try a new sport.

Hammer thrower Jac Palmer has been added to Wales’ Commonwealth Games athletics team. Palmer takes the team size up to 24 following Charlotte Arter’s addition to the original squad of 22 named last month. A delighted Palmer said: “Getting the call up was such a special moment for me, being part of Tîm Cymru is such an honour. I can’t wait to represent the country I love on the world stage.

Osian Pryce celebrated his 100th rally by leading the Nicky Grist Stages from start to finish – with his victory at the weekend putting his British Rally Championship title-winning aspirations firmly back on track. Starting with number 100 on the door of his Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Pryce and co-driver Noel O’Sullivan took the lead on the opening stage of the Builth Wells-based rally and held it until the end of the 45 stage mile event – winning by 14.9 seconds. Having won the opening round of the BRC, the Corbeau Seats Rally Tendring & Clacton, this is Pryce’s second victory in three events and the perfect response to the disappointment of being disqualified from the Jim Clark Rally (for driving along a closed road stage on a puncture).

Jamie Donaldson’s tie for sixth place at the Scottish Open has earned him a place at the week’s Open Championship at St. Andrews – and ruined his planned family holiday. Donaldson – Europe’s Ryder Cup hero at Gleneagles in 201 – has qualified for the 150th Open after making three birdies in four holes from the 12th on Sunday at the Genesis Scottish Open to finish on three-under and tie for sixth place. Donaldson, who carded a closing 67 to finish in a tie for sixth with Brandon Wu, US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick and Cameron Tringale, said: “It’s massive, although we have booked a holiday next week so the missus won’t be happy.

By Owen Morgan Rising Welsh 400m hurdler Ophelia Pye helped Great Britain top the medal table at the European Under-18 Championships in Jerusalem. The Marlborough Athletics product claimed gold in a championship record time on the final evening of the event as GB claimed a record haul of 16 medals – eclipsing the previous best […]