Wales at the Commonwealth Games

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Welsh weightlifting bronze medallist Laura Hughes has been reflecting on her second Commonwealth Games third place

On winning another bronze: "It feels absolutely incredible. I think it's only just starting to sink in. The first time someone asked me that question, I just drew a blank because I couldn't put it into words.

"But now, I just feel so happy. There are so many emotions. Having my family in the crowd made it special. I'm normally quite shy in those situations, but I could feel their energy and it carried me through every lift.

"I've got a massive sense of achievement. I'm so satisfied because all of the hard work has finally been put on display."

On achieving two personal bests: "I am absolutely thrilled. To have the opportunity to go close to 100kg in the snatch was amazing. I've lifted more than that in training, but competition is all about timing and strategy.

"I managed to snatch 99kg on the platform. Even though it was overturned, I'm still incredibly proud I was capable of doing it. Then to finish with a personal best in the clean and jerk and a personal best total makes it even more special."

On how this compares to winning bronze eight years ago: "In 2018 I was a bit like a deer in the headlights. Everything happened so quickly that I don't think I really took it in.

"This time I've been able to enjoy every moment. The qualification process has been long, but it's prepared us for this. It feels like we've won this medal together as a team.

"Having my family here makes it even more special. I'm about to go and see them now and I don't think there'll be many dry eyes."

On the influence of Wales weightlifting coach Gareth Evans: "Gareth has been one of the biggest reasons I've been able to win this bronze medal.

"We've built a huge amount of trust. When I walk into the warm-up room now, I know all I have to do is lift the bar because Gareth has everything else under control.

"He's such a fierce competitor. He told me yesterday he had a really good feeling about the competition.

"I was trying not to get carried away, but having someone with that belief in you gives you such a massive advantage."

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Welsh record holder Jake Heyward eased through his heat in third place to qualify for Saturday night's one-mile final.

Heyward ran the third-fastest overall time in 3:54.18, with his heat substantially quicker than the one won by world record holder and home favourite Josh Kerr.

Heyward said it was "a comfortable qualification."

"It feels amazing, honestly. I think the most important thing and the best thing for me is that my body's healthy," he added.

"When I'm on the track, it's smooth, it's relaxed, I don't have to try to muscle my way through anything."

Heyward had double Achilles surgery and did not run for 20 months before making his return at the start of the year.

"Even though I've only been training since January, I can actually be myself and express myself on the track," he said.

Heyward believes he can mount a significant challenge in the final: "I think I'm coming in under the radar.

"The other guys are probably going to be looking at other people, which is fair enough, and I can use that to my advantage."

Also in action on the track on Wednesday morning was Abigail Pawlett in the 200m.

Pawlett finished fourth in her heat with a time of 24.60 seconds - which is 1.59 seconds slower than her personal best - in her first race of the year

"It's been a really difficult year," she said, having also struggled with an Achilles issue.

"I knew I wasn't going to come here with fireworks, having been quite injured and only got out of a boot a few months ago, so it's been a bit of a race against the clock to be here.

"I wanted to do what I could to be here on the start line, representing Wales, so all in all I can't be too disappointed.

"It wasn't a good race for me but it's probably a reflection of where I'm at since that Achilles issue; it kind of catapulted into a few more things than trying to get back sprinting."

And Pawlett says she was frustrated that she was unable to compete for a podium spot in the heptathlon.

"I knew I wasn't going to have time for heptathlon so to get back sprinting in a short period has been really tough," she said.

"I know that if I was in the heptathlon I'd have been going for a medal.

"I've got to back myself; I think I would have, but I couldn't do that.

"I wanted to say thanks to Welsh Athletics for the backing and support they've given me over the past two years."

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Weightlifter Laura Hughes claimed her second Commonwealth Games bronze medal with a third-place finish in the 77kg section.

Hughes, 33, lifted 95kg in the snatch before a personal best of 129kg in the clean and jerk produced a best ever total of 224kg.

It was enough to achieve a podium position behind Samoa's gold medal winner Seine Stowers and England's silver medallist Isabella Brown.

Hughes, from Rhyl, previously won bronze on the Gold Coast in 2018.

Wales have now secured 11 medals at the 2026 Games, including one gold, three silver and seven bronze.

They are guaranteed at least one more medal with boxer Connor Williams having reached the semi-finals.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Matt Richards has eased into Wednesday evening's Commonwealth Games 200m men's freestyle final in Glasgow.

Richards won his heat and qualified fourth fastest overall, while fellow Welsh swimmer Tyler Melbourne-Smith just missed out after recording the ninth fastest time. Kieran Bird also bowed out.

Richards, England's James Guy, Northern Ireland's Jack McMillan and Scotland's Duncan Scott are the current 4x200m relay world champions and were all involved individually in this Commonwealth contest.

Guy qualified fastest for the final, which takes place at 19:21 BST, ahead of Australians Sam Short and Harrison Turner.

McMillan also qualified for the final but Scott missed out.

Richards won his first individual Commonwealth silver medal on Tuesday night with a silver in the 100m freestyle.

It was one of three medals for Richards in Glasgow following two relay bronze.

Meghan Willis qualified seventh fastest for the women's 100m freestyle S9 final, while both men's and women's 4x100m medley relay qualified for tonight's finale.

Image source, Team Wales

So after a gymnastics gold for Ruby Evans, Matt Richards' swimming silver and Para-bowls bronze, day five represented the most successful of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games so far for Wales.

So what will day six bring? Richards will be aiming to turn 100m freestyle silver into 200m gold on the final day of pool action.

It is a throwing paradise at the athletics with Aled Davies, Harrison Walsh, Funmi Oduwaiye, Bree Cronin and Adele Nicoll all in action.

Five boxers, Owain Harris-Allan, Rosie Eccles, Orlando Holley-Sotomi, Niamh Brookes and Daniel Pitt are in quarter-final bouts on Wednesday knowing a victory will guarantee a medal.

Athletics

10:30: Abi Pawlett, women's 200m heats

11:10: Jake Heyward, men's mile heats

19:00: Funmi Oduwaiye and Bree Cronin, women's discus throw F42-44/F61-64

20:01: Adele Nicoll, women's shot put

20:06: Issy Boffey, women's 800m semi-finals

20:25: Aled Davies and Harrison Walsh, men's discus throw F42-44/F61-64

21:35: Cari Hughes, 3000m steeplechase

Bowls

15:00: Daniel Salmon and Ross Owen, men's pairs, Wales vs Malta

17:50: Amy Williams, women's singles, vs South Africa's Bridget Herselman

Boxing

12:00: Niamh Brookes v Amber-Jane Wall, women's 51kg quarter-final

13:15: Rosie Eccles v Samukelisiwe Sinothile Ncube, women's 70kg quarter-final

13:30: Owain Harris-Allan v Nicholas Devlin, men's 60kg quarter-final

14:00: Orlando Holley-Sotomi v Refiloe Thai, men's 70kg quarter-final

20:45: Daniel Pitt v Paul Trainor, men's 90+kg quarter-final

Netball

19:00: New Zealand v Wales

Swimming

10:42: Matt Richards, Kieran Bird, Tyler Melbourne-Smith, men's 200m freestyle heats (final at 19:21)

11:16: Meghan Willis, women's 100m freestyle S9 heats (final at 20:09)

11:40: Women's 4x100m medley relay (final at 21:20)

11:52: Men's 4x100m medley relay (final at 21:31)

19:43: Theodora Taylor, women's 50m freestyle final

Weightlifting

09:30: Laura Hughes, women's 77kg final.

Image source, Team Wales

It has been a busy day for Team Wales with the first gold medal for gymnast Ruby Evans, a silver for swimmer Matt Richards and a bronze for the Para-mixed bowls pair Steffan James and Julie Thomas.

Here's what else you might have missed on day five.

Bowls

It was the turn of men's pairs Daniel Salmon and Ross Owen and Amy Williams in the women's singles to begin their campaigns.

Team Wales baton bearer Salmon has yet to play a fixture but began alongside Owen with a straightforward victory over Niue.

Williams shrugged off the disappointment of missing out on pairs bronze this morning with a 2-0 win over India's Nayanmoni Saikia.

Weightlifting

Haverfordwest pair Charlotte Whalley and Chloe Hood competed in their respective weightlifting finals.

Whalley finished eighth in the women's 68kg, setting a total of 186kg, while Hood was ninth in the women's 69kg event with 190kg.

3x3 wheelchair basketball

It was the end of the road for both the men's and women's 3x3 wheelchair basketball teams as they both lost their 'play in' matches.

Both sides had to play a qualifier ahead of a potential semi-final tomorrow.

The men's side lost 21-6 to Australia and then the women fell to Canada, 21-3.

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Welsh sprinter Jeremiah Azu missed out on a Commonwealth medal for the second games in a row after finishing fifth in the men's 100m final

It was the same position he managed in Birmingham four years ago.

The Welshman had eased through the heats and ran 10.00 seconds in his semi-final but could only manage 10.03 seconds in a rain-affected final won by Cameroon's Emmanuel Eseme.

"I don't feel like I really made any mistakes so it's a hard one to take. These guys are just running crazy fast," he said.

"I felt like I put a good race together. I thought it would be won in 9.9-low which I think I'm capable of, I just didn't put it together today.

"But to represent Wales is always a pleasure, always an honour."

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Team Wales swimmer Matt Richards claimed his first Commonwealth Games individual medal after winning silver in the 100m freestyle final.

It was his third medal in Glasgow after earlier claiming two bronze relay medals.

Flynn Southam won gold and his fellow Australian Kyle Chalmers earned bronze.

"I'm over the moon," said Richards.

"Anytime you're stood on the podium, it's always going to be special but every time it's for Wales, it just makes it that little bit more."

It was a fifth medal for Wales in the pool, while Olympic champion Richards will compete in the 200m freestyle on the final day of action on Wednesday.

"I've been fortunate this week to be able to stand on the podium three times, which has been incredible," said Richards.

"I'm also aware two of those are bronze, one's a silver, and I've not yet got the one colour I'm looking for and I'll be looking to put that right."

Richards' medal was Wales' 10th official medal of the Games with the three silvers and six bronze bettered by the gold achieved by gymnast Ruby Evans earlier today.

There will definitely be an 11th medal after boxer Connor Williams reached the semi-finals.

Para-swimmer Ela Letton-Jones, who won Wales' first medal when she claimed silver in the 100m, finished sixth fastest in the women's 50m freestyle S13 finals.

Theodora Taylor, 17, qualified sixth fastest for the 50m freestyle final on Wednesday but Meghan Higgs missed out.

Jack Knight bowed out of the men’s 100m backstroke semi-finals, while Alexandra Bastone placed 10th in the 800m freestyle.

There was drama in the men's 50m butterfly semi-final when Wales' Lewis Fraser and Nigeria's Abduljabar Adama qualified joint fastest eighth.

Fraser had posted a personal best and Welsh record in the semi-final.

This meant a very rare swim-off was organised at 22:10 BST for a place in Wednesday's final which Adama won.

Image source, Team Wales

Image source, Getty Images

Welsh sprinter Jeremiah Azu has made it through to tonight's 100m final in Glasgow (21:14 BST).

Azu, who finished fifth in the final in Birmingham four years ago, finished second in his semi-final in a time of 10.00 seconds.

It was a season's best for the 25-year-old and just 0.03 seconds off his personal best.

His time was equal fourth best from the three semi-finals.

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Wales secured their first netball win at the Commonwealth Games with a polished display against Trinidad & Tobago.

Georgia Rowe scored 32 goals and Nansi Kuti 23 in the 74-30 victory in Pool B, which followed disappointing defeats to Scotland and Uganda.

Wales dominated the first two quarters to put the result beyond doubt, leading 43-19 at half-time against a side who had already conceded 238 goals in their first three games.

That allowed coach Emily Handyside to make significant changes throughout the match, with 19-year-old wing attack Lowri Windsor making her debut.

Wales' remaining games are against the two strongest sides in Pool B, New Zealand on Wednesday and Jamaica on Thursday.