Team Wales have collected a total of 28 medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham: eight golds, six silvers and 14 bronzes.
It means Wales finish eighth in the overall medals table. Para-athletes have led the way by contributing to half the golds, with athletes Aled Sion Davies and Olivia Breen, cyclist James Ball and table tennis player Joshua Stacey all standing on top of the podium.
The final breakdown for Wales in Birmingham was seven medals for track and road cycling, six for boxing, three in both athletics and bowls, two for judo, table tennis and swimming, and one each for squash, triathlon and rhythmic gymnastics.
Wales chef de mission Nicola Phillips says she is proud of the team, who have done "phenomenally well" despite not matching the record-breaking Gold Coast Games four years ago when there was a tally of 36 medals including 10 golds.
"We have had too many personal bests for us to even consider," she said. "We have had Games records on the cycling track, on the throws field, and had loads of Welsh records. That's what we asked the athletes, to come back with personal bests and Welsh records, and that's what they've done. We measure success by personal bests, Welsh records and Games records. Our athletes are competing alongside, not too shabbily, the world's best."
Here, we take a look at the achievements of every Welsh medal winner at the 2022 Commonwealth Games:
Gold medals - eight
Athletics
Aled Davies - discus
Aled Davies added Commonwealth Games gold to his three Paralympic titles with a dominant display in Birmingham. His class in the discus event was evident as his best effort of 51.39 put him more than seven metres clear of his nearest rival.
Davies, 31, who won shot put gold at the Tokyo Paralympics last year after seven years of solely concentrating on that discipline, switched back to discus in September last year when he knew there was an opportunity to add a missing gold to his collection having won silver eight years ago at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
Davies battled to secure gold despite picking up a "niggle" in his pelvis. “It’s a special one," he said. "It really is. I’m very proud of being Welsh, it’s very close to my heart." Read more here.
Olivia Breen - T37/38 100m
Wales' Olivia Breen produced a stunning performance to take Commonwealth Games gold in the Women’s T37/38 100m final, recording a personal best of 12.83s to push England's Sophie Hahn into second place. She later gave a brilliant TV interview where he joy was simply infectious, and you can watch that clip here.
Boxing
Ioan Croft - welterweight
Ioan Croft claimed gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the men's welterweight boxing final, defeating Stephen Zimba from Zambia to earn victory in a unanimous decision. The Crymych product, 20, battled his way through and withstood a last-ditch rally from his opponent in the dying moments of the final at the NEC Hall, before winning 5-0.
"It is a dream come true," said Ioan. "It all came down to those nine minutes and it was punch perfect, it could not have gone any better." Read more here.
It came after his identical twin brother Garan won boxing bronze in the light-middleweight division.
Rosie Eccles - light-middleweight
Rosie Eccles won gold in the women's light-middleweight after putting in a relentless effort to beat Australia's Kaye Scott, with the referee ending the fight in the second round.
After winning silver in the welterweight category four years ago, Eccles, now 26, became only the second Welsh woman to win Commonwealth boxing gold after Lauren Price, who went on to become Olympic champion in Tokyo last summer. Eccles overcame a number of setbacks along the way, including nerve damage in her arm leaving her in chronic pain and considering walking away from the sport just two years ago. Read more here.
"I thought if there's ever the opportunity, take it," said Eccles. "To get it by stoppage in the final, I have no words."
Cycling
James Ball - tandem sprint
James Ball won Wales' first gold of the Games with victory in the tandem sprint. Ball and pilot Matt Rotherham stamped their authority on the competition from the qualifying stage when they clocked 9.851 in a flying lap, going on to claim a maiden gold. Read more here.
Gymnastics
Gemma Frizelle - hoop
Carmarthen native Gemma Frizelle claimed hoop gold for Wales to create history by becoming the first Welsh gymnast to win gold in the discipline at the Commonwealth Games. Amazingly, Frizelle then competed in the rhythmic ball final just minutes later, where she finished eighth.
"I was just hoping to scrape a medal but to come out with gold was amazing," she said. "My whole club from Llanelli were here and I am so grateful for the support."
Frizelle also managed to bring her mum to tears, which you can read more about here.
Lawn bowls
Jarrad Breen and Daniel Salmon - men's pairs
Jarrad Breen and Daniel Salmon produced a sublime display to secure gold in the men's pairs lawn bowls final, securing a tight 19-18 victory over English duo Jamie Walker and Sam Tolchard. Read more here.
Table tennis
Joshua Stacey - men's classes 8-10 singles
Para-table tennis player Joshua Stacey dedicated his gold medal to his late grandad after defeating Lin Ma in the final of the men's classes 8-10 singles to become Wales' first para-table tennis Commonwealth Games champion. Stacey won 25-23, 5-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5 to claim an overall 3-2 victory against his Australian opponent.
Stacey revealed post-match that he would be celebrating by making a special phone call to his nan, saying: "I will probably call my nan, I'd like to speak to her. My gramps passed away in April so this is for him." Read more here.
Silver medals - six
Boxing
Taylor Bevan - light-heavyweight
Taylor Bevan, 21, claimed silver in the men's light heavyweight boxing category after falling to a defeat to Scotland's Sean Lazzerini in the gold-medal contest. "Obviously I wanted that gold medal but I think once the dust has settled I'll be pleased with what I've achieved at the Commonwealth Games," he said. Read more here.
Cycling
James Ball - men's tandem B 1km time trial
Para-cyclist James Ball won Wales' first medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, a silver in the men's tandem B 1,000m time trial. Along with pilot Matt Rotherham, the pair finished behind Scotland's Neil Fachie on day one of the Games.
Newport-born Ball, 31, said: “I won silver four years ago and it would have been nice to improve on that. We put all the hard work in for gold, that’s what we train for. It’s still a medal on the world stage so I’m really happy with that." Read more here.
Judo
Natalie Powell - women's -78kg
Natalie Powell claimed silver in the -78kg judo in Coventry after losing to England's Emma Reid in the final. The 31-year-old from Merthyr Tydfil put in a valiant effort but Reid emerged the victor 1-0 as the fight timed out. Read more here.
Lawn bowls
Gordon Llewellyn and Julie Thomas - visually impaired mixed pairs
Gordon Llewellyn and Julie Thomas joined forces to win lawn bowls silver in the visually impaired mixed pairs, supported by guides Mark Adams and John Wilson.
In doing so, Ystradgynlais’ Llewellyn, 75, became the oldest Welsh Commonwealth Games medallist of all time. He and Port Talbot's Thomas lost out to Scotland in the final, with their home nations rivals winning 16-9. Read more here.
Squash
Joel Makin - men's singles
Aberdare's Joel Makin brought home squash silver after losing out to New Zealand's Paul Coll in the final, a competitor who had won five of his last six meetings with the Welshman. Read more here.
Triathlon
Dominic Coy Iestyn Harriet, Olivia Mathias, Non Stanford - mixed team
Non Stanford claimed Commonwealth Games team triathlon silver alongside Iestyn Harriet, Olivia Mathias and Dominic Coy in a fitting way to end her career. The 2013 world title holder, who finished fourth at the 2016 Rio Olympics, put in a trademark gritty performance before hanging her boots up aged 33.
“This is the icing on the cake of my career and I can hang my shoes up now and be really happy," she said. "It’s all thanks to this team. It’s the perfect ending to a really old career. I’ll retire from racing at the end of this year. Read more here.
Bronze medals - 14
Athletics
Harrison Walsh - discus
Harrison Walsh took bronze in men's discus throw, winning his first major medal alongside gold medal winner and friend Aled Davies. Walsh was a promising rugby player who represented Wales U18s and had signed for the Ospreys when an injury left him with permanent nerve damage in his foot. Walsh had been due to make his debut at last year’s Paralympics in Japan until he suffered a freak ankle injury during training.
“When I was retired from rugby and couldn’t do that anymore because of paralysis, he [Davies] was the first guy that I knew in throwing," Walsh said. "So I looked him up and started chatting and got into it. It’s so special to be out there with him competing for the country I love and I’m so proud to represent, I’ve always wanted to represent Wales. It’s just the most special country and people in the world.”
Aquatics
Medi Harris - 100m backstroke
Teen talent Medi Harris cemented her rising star status by claiming a first senior medal, a bronze, in the women's 100m backstroke amid a top-class Commonwealth Games field. The 19-year-old became British champion for the first time in April in what is a breakthrough year for the Gwynedd swimmer, and the only two swimmers to beat the Borth y Gest ace’s time of 59.62 seconds at the Games were the current and former world record holders.
“I’m so happy with that swim, it was a really good race,” said Harris, who was second at the halfway mark before clinging onto a podium place. Read more here.
Lily Rice - S8 100m backstroke
Pembrokeshire pool star Lily Rice tumble-turned her way to Wales’ first swimming medal of the Commonwealth Games, battling past a chest infection to claim bronze in the S8 100m backstroke.
It came five years after she became the first woman in Europe to land a backflip in a wheelchair, and represents an incredible feat for the wheelchair motocross world champion who only returned to competitive swimming nine months ago after being inspired by the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
The 18-year-old said: “It’s crazy. I don’t know how to explain it. I’ve been quite ill over the past few weeks so to go out and medal is amazing. If I said to myself a year ago I’d be at the Commonwealths, never mind medalling, I’d have told myself to shut up. Being able to represent Wales is such a special thing about the Commonwealth Games.” Read more here.
Boxing
Garan Croft - light-middleweight
Garan Croft claimed a Commonwealth Games bronze medal after exiting the semi-finals on a split decision. He endured a frustrating nine minutes at Birmingham's NEC Hall as he fell to a defeat to elusive Northern Irish boxer Aidan Walsh, beaten 4-1 on points in the light-middleweight category.
After finishing with bronze, Garan said: “A nightmare is the best way to sum him up, he’s an incredibly skilful boxer but he is five years further down the line and used all that experience to good effect. I hope I’ve made a corner of Wales very proud, and I certainly gave it all I had. I couldn’t have given any more. I just couldn’t catch him and make it my kind of fight.” Read more here.
Jake Dodd - flyweight
Jake Dodd earned Wales' 21st medal of the Commonwealth Games by taking the bronze in his men’s flyweight division semi-final, where England's Kiaran MacDonald edged their semi-final bout to progress to the final by beating Dodd via technical knockout. Dodd will now return to the day job as a plumber as a Commonwealth Games medallist. Read more here.
Owain Harris-Allan - bantamweight
Welsh boxing prospect Owain Harris-Allan claimed bronze at the 2022 Commonwealth Games aged just 18. Suffering a rare day off when it mattered most, Harris-Allan was outmuscled by Ghana’s Abraham Mensah, who won on a split decision to progress to the final. Read more here.
Cycling
Eluned King - women's 25km points race
Swansea star Eluned King bagged points race bronze in the women's 25km, picking up 32 points in intermediate sprints to pip Canada’s Maggie Coles-Lyster to the podium for her maiden major international medal.
She said: “I’m not the fastest and I’m not the strongest, so I needed to use my head more than anything else. I just followed the moves and didn’t overthink it. I have a great support network and they’ve been incredible, so this is their medal, not mine." Read more here.
Emma Finucane - women's sprint
Carmarthen cyclist Emma Finucane revelled in beating English rivals en route to her second medal of the Commonwealth Games. She beat Great Britain star Sophie Capewell in a best-of-three straight-up sprint to take a bronze medal at Lee Valley VeloPark. Read more here.
Rhian Edmunds, Emma Finucane, Lowri Thomas - team sprint
Cycling trio Rhian Edmunds, Emma Finucane and Lowri Thomas worked together to win bronze in the women's team sprint on day one of the Games, clocking 47.767 seconds to pip Australia for a place on the podium by more than three tenths of a second.
"To get a medal at our first Games is absolutely amazing," said 23-year-old Lowri, from Abergavenny. "Being as young as these two are and barely riding for more than three years is absolutely wicked. We reset ourselves, spoke about what we needed to do for the next ride and we nailed absolutely every part of it." Read more here.
Geraint Thomas - individual time trial
Geraint Thomas had to settle for bronze after an early crash ruined his chances of gold in the men's individual time trial. The Welshman's eagerly anticipated duel with Aussie, and eventual gold medallist, Rohan Dennis was over within two minutes when Thomas misjudged an early corner and clipped the barriers, which sent him tumbling to the tarmac. It cost him around 30 seconds but, remarkably, Thomas was second when he went through the first time check at just under nine kilometres, trailing leader Dennis by around 30 seconds, eventually claiming bronze. The other Welshman in the race, Owain Doull, finished seventh. Read more here.
William Roberts - men's 15km scratch race
William Roberts managed to claim bronze in the men's 15km scratch race despite an earlier crash leaving him "shook up" and feeling sick.
He had been racing in the men's scratch qualifier when eight riders collided in the final lap, seeing England's Matt Walls crash over the barrier and into the crowd.
Roberts said it left him feeling sick, but he was glad to be on the podium after the disappointment of Wales' team pursuit where they finished fourth.
Judo
Jasmine Hacker-Jones - women's -63kg
Maesteg-born Jasmine Hacker-Jones took the Commonwealth bronze medal in the women's -63kg at the Coventry Arena. The Cardiff Metropolitan University student, who beat Cameroon's Audrey Jeannette Etoua Biock to claim bronze, almost considered giving up judo during lockdown but persevered after training with her partner.
“Lockdown was really difficult, I put on a lot of weight and lost sight of my goals,” she said prior to the Games starting. “But my boyfriend does MMA and we started training together. We bought some mats from Amazon and set them out in the garden. Every day we’d hit pads and do a bit of grappling when we could, and I really enjoyed it. Judo and wrestling are very different in some ways, and I managed to adapt to it.” Read more here.
Lawn bowls
Owain Dando, Ross Owen, Jonathan Tomlinson - men's triples
Bowls trio Owain Dando (whose day job sees him work as a PCSO in Merthyr Tydfil), Ross Owen and Jonathan Tomlinson won bronze in the men's triples via a 21-7 defeat over Fiji. Read more here.
Table tennis
Charlotte Carey, Anna Hursey - women's doubles
Wales table tennis pair Charlotte Carey and Anna Hursey claimed a Commonwealth Games bronze medal in the women's doubles. On the final day of competition in Birmingham, Carey and Hursey defeated Singapore duo Wong Xin Ru and Zhou Jingu 16-14, 14-12, 9-11, 12-10. It is Wales' first female Commonwealth Games table tennis medal. Read more here.
