Elfyn Evans may have to roll the dice if he wants to get his World Rally Championship campaign off to a winning start in Monte Carlo. The Dolgellau ace goes into Sunday’s final four stages in the snowy French Alps trailing Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate Sebastien Ogier by just 13 seconds.

Elfyn Evans snatched the lead in the Monte Carlo Rally and looks set for a battle royal this weekend with team-mate Sebastien Ogier. The Dolgellau ace won one of Friday’s five special stages in the French Alps to end the day with a slender 7.4 secs advantage over the Frenchman.

Cardiff Valkyries have gone virtual as they bid to encourage more women to take up American Football. The club may be restricted from playing matches or holding training sessions during the current lockdown, but that has not stopped their determined recruitment drive. Undeterred, Wales’ only women’s American Football set-up are holding a series of “rookie days” online to introduce new players to the sport and their thriving club.

L E M F R E C K – otherwise known as Lemarl Freckleton – has a dream of sprinting for Wales at the Commonwealth Games. That is, when he’s not dreaming of more fame in the world of rap, or appearing on Glastonbury main stage, or a revival of his tennis career. Wales’ coolest athlete tells all to Owen Morgan. Radio One airtime and a 100m performance which convinced him a Commonwealth Games place is achievable . . . 2020 wasn’t so bad for Lemarl Freckleton. While most of us were glad to see the back of last year, the Newport sprinter and musician can look back at the past 12 months as something of a breakthrough year.

Laura Daniels was crowned World Indoor Bowls Champion for the second time after a thrilling victory in Norfolk. The 35-year-old accountant from Neath beat local bowler Katherine Rednall to win the women’s singles title.

Elfyn Evans made a promising start as he launched his World Rally Championship campaign on the Monte Carlo rally. Just six weeks after suffering title heartache on Rally Monza, the Dolgellau ace was lying third after the opening day in the French Alps.

Commonwealth Games silver medallist Latalia Bevan has confirmed her retirement from elite competition. The 19-year-old women’s artistic gymnast from Merthyr Tydfil has called it a day on the back of a stellar competitive career, capped by a stunning silver she brought home for Team Wales from Australia’s Gold Coast in 2018. But there have been plenty of other highlights for St Tydfils Gymnastics Club’s Wales and Great Britain star, who started out in the sport aged six.

Elfyn Evans is hoping to give it the full Monte when he launches his FIA World Rally Championship campaign in Monaco on Thursday. The Dolgellau ace saw his dream of becoming the first Welsh driver to win the title dashed in the final round last season when he slid off the road in Italy just six weeks ago.

Zoe Backstedt has seen her junior cyclo-cross World Championship hopes dashed by the coronavirus pandemic. The Pontyclun teenager has seen the junior races due to take place in Belgium later this month scrapped because of the on-going COVID-19 crisis.

Run Wales is looking to inspire even more people to join in the running revolution sweeping the nation. More than 350,000 people – 18 per cent of Wales’ adult population – used running for their daily exercise during the 2020 lockdowns. With gyms closed once again and running clubs not able to exercise together, Run Wales is looking for first-time joggers, power walkers and race finishers to join their new campaign – From My Door.

Natalie Powell reckons she is in the best shape of her career after returning to the judo mat for the first time in nearly 12 months. The Beulah judoka finished fifth at the World Masters in Doha as the countdown to the Tokyo Olympics resumed in earnest.

A major research programme exploring race and racism is calling on anyone involved in Welsh sport to share their experiences. Whether you are an elite athlete, enthusiastic amateur, a fan, or work in sport, the #TellYourStory project wants to hear from you. The UK-wide campaign by the home nation sports councils, including Sport Wales, aims to tackle racism and racial inequality in sport.

With solo walking and running becoming so vital to everyone striving to stay fit and healthy at present, athletics clubs more used to group activities have had to adapt. For Porthcawl Runners that led to SOLO – a now booming DIY programme of fun runs and more serious challenges, as Carl Field discovered. Running clubs across Wales have certainly needed to think outside the box over the past 10 months, but few epitomise spirit and togetherness quite like Porthcawl Runners. The sunny seaside town, famous for its Elvis Festival and the Christmas morning swim, is also home to an ever-growing running club.

Teenage Welsh athlete Sadie Graham-Mulvaney is trying to raise awareness of autism within her sport. The 17-year-old’s efforts have been highlighted in a campaign by luxury footwear and accessory outlet Kurt Geiger. Graham-Mulvaney, who has high-functioning autism, set out her goals as part of the company’s People Empowered series, which shines the spotlight on underrepresented groups in fashion.

Laura Deas finished 12th as she resumed her BMW IBSF World Cup skeleton campaign in Germany. Wales’ Olympic bronze medalist was eighth after her first run in Winterberg, clocking 57.92secs.

The triumph of Gerwyn Price last weekend wasn’t just a victory for Wales on the international stage, it was a win for re-invention. Fraser Watson salutes darts’ new world champion and pays tribute to other Welsh sports stars who swapped horses in mid-stream but still reached dry land. When Richie Burnett – who was known as “The Prince Of Wales” – decided on a new moniker, he went for a time, under the label, “The Dartist Formerly Known as Prince”. Which just shows that transformation in darts is very possible, even for former world champions.

A number of Welsh athletes have successfully applied for funding under the Ron Pickering Memorial Fund Grants. Teenage sprint sensation Jeremiah Azu and junior female Welsh athlete of the year Bethany Moule are among those who will be supported by the scheme in 2021.

Charlotte Carey has taken a big step towards making this year’s delayed Olympic Games by earning a place in the Great Britain table tennis squad for the qualifiers. The Welsh No.1 – who is currently ranked 151 in the world – has been included in the maximum permitted four player squad for the European Olympic Qualifying Tournament in February. Great Britain missed out on qualifying for the team event in an earlier qualification competition last January.

The Welshman who became the first Briton to run an indoor sub-4 minute mile has died in the United States. Sir Roger Bannister was the first athlete to dip under the magical mile mark when he clocked 3:59.4 at Oxford’s Iffley Road track in 1954. But Cardiff-born Bob Maplestone was the first Briton to emulate the feat indoors, when he ran 3:59.5 in San Diego back in 1972.

Welsh Athletics has announced the cancellation of this year’s indoor and cross country national championships. A statement by the sport’s governing body says it is “with a heavy heart” it has scrapped the hugely popular events, normally held in the months of January and February, due to the current COVID-19 alert level.