A host of home stars will be looking to shine when the Commonwealth Games kicks off on July 28.
Athletes from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be among those competing in more than 20 sports at venues across Birmingham and the surrounding area.
Here we pick out five names to watch out for.
Adam Peaty
Peaty’s build-up has been less than ideal thanks to a broken foot that ruled him out of the World Championships. The breaststroke superstar will be bidding to win the 100 metres for a third successive Games, while he had to settle for silver in the 50m in both 2014 and 2018 behind Cameron Van Der Burgh.
Dina Asher-Smith
Asher-Smith is another of the biggest names in British sport who will be competing in Birmingham. Injury wrecked the 26-year-old’s Olympic campaign in Tokyo and she will have her work cut out in the 100m. Asher-Smith is skipping her favoured 200m but will also contest the 4x100m relay.
Rhys McClenaghan
Gymnast McClenaghan won Northern Ireland’s only gold medal in Gold Coast four years ago on the pommel horse, pipping Max Whitlock. Whitlock is absent this time, and McClenaghan also looked set to miss out having been banned because he had represented Ireland, but that has now been overturned.
Rosie Eccles
Chepstow fighter Eccles claimed silver in the 69 kilogrammes category four years ago behind England’s Sandy Ryan and is back for another shot. The 25-year-old feared for her career because of nerve damage and missed out on qualification for the Tokyo Olympics but has high hopes for Birmingham.
Alex Yee
Yee announced himself as the successor to Alistair Brownlee by winning silver in the individual triathlon in Tokyo and gold as part of the mixed team relay. England will have high hopes again in the latter while Yee is likely to vie with New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde for gold in the individual race.
