More than 50 Welsh athletes travel to Manchester this weekend to take part in the Muller British Athletics Championships and Great Britain Olympic trials. This year’s championships promises to be one of the most keenly contested in recent history with a number genuine world class athletes bidding for places on the plane to Tokyo next month.

Cardiff’s Jake Heyward will be targeting a place at next month’s Tokyo Olympics when he competes at this weekend’s British Athletics Championships in Manchester. The event also doubles at the Great Britain Olympic trials and a top two place in the 1500m final will book Heyward an automatic place on the plane to Japan.

Aled Davies is off to another Paralympics with Great Britain this summer, his place having been confirmed earlier this week. He’s an inspiration to a generation, including Kieran Jones, the 19-year-old shot putter and wheelchair basketball star who is making rapid strides towards twin ambitions in two sports, as he tells Graham Thomas. Kieran Jones admits he’s thrilled to be back competing as an elite shot putter – and so are his neighbours. The 19-year-old para athlete has a summer of athletics meetings to look forward to again, while those living near his Anglesey home no longer have to worry about the state of his garden fence.

Three Welsh athletes have been named in the first group selected to represent Great Britain at the rescheduled 2020 Paralympics this summer. Reigning champions Hollie Arnold and Aled Davies are joined by Sabrina Fortune in the first wave of selections for Tokyo. Arnold, who won Commonwealth Games gold for Wales in 2018, will be looking to defend the title she won five years ago in Rio in the women’s F46 javelin.

Welshman Dylan Howells is gearing up to mix it with the world’s best acrobatic gymnasts. The 20-year-old, who hails from Risca, will be part of the Great Britain squad who fly out to Switzerland next week for 2021 Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships, which are being staged from July 2 to 4 in Geneva.

Melissa Courtney-Bryant has vowed to be in peak condition for next summer’s Commonwealth Games after admitting injury has denied her a chance to compete for a place at the Olympics. The Wales 5,000m runner had hoped to challenge for the Great Britain team at the Olympic trials this weekend, but a ligament injury in her heel has ruled her out. Instead, Courtney-Bryant has been left on crutches after the injury re-occurred when she was racing in France last week.

Geraint Thomas, Elinor Barker and Ethan Vernon will be part of a Great Britain cycling team who have vowed to bring home more gold at Tokyo this summer – but without cutting any corners. The Welsh trio are part of a 26-strong squad for the Games which includes a mix of huge experience and youthful ambition. That blend is summed up in the Welsh threesome – with Thomas and Barker being two of six previous gold medal winners, while 20-year-old Vernon – who rode for Wales at the 2018 Commonwealth Games – will be going to his first Olympics.

By Tom Prosser There will be significant Welsh interest in the hockey at this summers Tokyo Olympics after both the men’s and women’s squads feature two Welsh players each. This marks a great achievement for Welsh Hockey as no players were included in the 2016 squad and this is the most Welsh representation in a staggering 113 years. Rupert Shipperley and Jacob Draper are in for the men, whilst Sarah Jones and Leah Wilkinson are included in the Women’s squad.

The Cardiff Devils continue to build their roster for the new season after confirming the double signings of Sam Duggan and Josh Waller. Duggan, 22, returns for a third campaign with the Devils after featuring for Swedish team Segeltorps IF and Coventry Blaze during the suspended season. Duggan originally moved to Cardiff in the 2018-19 […]

Setting a new world record and raising nearly ten thousand pounds for charity would be an almost impossible task for many of us but the inspirational Dave Tonge from Cardiff achieved both after completing a mammoth 24 hour swim in aid of Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff. He tells his story to our reporter Tom Prosser. 

By Alex Bywater England duo Zak Crawley and Sam Billings made their second appearances for Kent after returning from international duty as their team sealed a 40-run Vitality Blast win over Glamorgan in Cardiff. Crawley and Billings – both part of the England squad beaten by New Zealand at Edgbaston – made 15 and 30 respectively, but their bowlers did the business to defend a total of 144 for seven. Two wickets each for Marnus Labuschagne, Prem Sisodiya and Dan Douthwaite put Glamorgan in control, but they were dismissed for just 104 as Labuschagne failed for the first time in the Blast.

Glamorgan are up and running in this season’s T20 Blast and so, too, is their Aussie star, Marnus Labuschagne. Steve Smith had been scheduled to be playing some cricket in Cardiff this summer when Welsh Fire get going, but for Fraser Watson it’s Labuschagne you want to be watching if you’re curious about how Australia will gather their runs in the years to come. The other afternoon, with the sun beating down, the spectators at Sofia Gardens satisfied, and Glamorgan all but assured of a first T20 Blast win of the season – Marnus Labuschagne got out. To teammates and home supporters, it mattered little. To the outcome of the game, even less so.

Wales Commonwealth Games hopeful Joe Cemlyn-Jones was pleased to be back in action for Great Britain last week – and has set his sights on impressing during the World Championship trials later this year. The 21-year-old men’s artistic star only narrowly missed out on a medal at the latest FIG World Challenge Cup series event staged in Osijek, Croatia, finishing fourth in the parallel bars final.

Growing up as a cricket-mad girl in Port Talbot, Alex Griffiths had far more opportunities to play the sport she loved than those who had gone before her. Still, by her own admission, cricket was a small part of her childhood sporting landscape which makes it all the more remarkable the 18-year-old has made it to the top of the game. A highly talented allrounder, Griffiths came through Wales’ development pathway and in one summer, she represented every team from her under-13 age group to the senior side.

Sam Gordon produced a blistering performance on the hottest day of the year to smash his PB in London. The Cardiff athlete clocked 10.25 in his second round heat at the Newham and Essex Beagles Sprints and Hurdles Open on Sunday.

Nick Selman labelled Marnus Labuschagne “a nightmare to run with” – but it didn’t deter the pair from sharing a century stand to lead Glamorgan to their first T20 Blast win of the summer against Essex Eagles. Chasing 154, Selman was joined by his fellow Queenslander at 21 for 1, and both passed 50 as they proceeded to put on 110 in 13.1 overs and ensure Chris Cooke’s team bounced back from Thursday’s agonising defeat against Gloucestershire. Man of the match Selman struck seven fours and two sixes to make 65 in just 45 balls before tamely giving a return catch back to Essex captain Simon Harmer.

Rising young Welsh distance athlete Osian Perrin produced a sensational run to break the 44-year-old Welsh junior 5,000m record in Watford on Saturday. At the end of a thrilling 5,000m B race where Perrin swapped the lead with Dominic Nolan several times, the Menai Track and Field athlete broke the tape in 13:53.03.

Wales have lost their seat at the top table of men’s European hockey and will have to qualify for the elite tier of EuroHockey next season. Danny Newcombe’s team needed to bet Russia to pip France for a top six finish at the current tournament in Amsterdam, but were held to a 3-3 draw. The result means Wales must now pre-qualify for a place in the first division at the next EuroHockey Championships in 2023.

Two of Wales’ Olympic hopefuls experienced contrasting fortunes in the south of France on Saturday night. Jake Heyward clocked a big new 800m personal best while Melissa Courtney-Bryant dropped out of the 1500m on her final lap. Having run two 1500m Olympic qualifying times and a new personal best over the distance during the past two weeks, Heyward dropped down to the two lap distance at the Meeting International De Nice.

Radyr’s Adrian Bragg claimed his second major Welsh title, 38 years after winning the first as part of a team alongside Ryder Cup star Phil Price.