Good Evans gives Wales’ medal bid a major lift

WEIGHTLIFTER Gareth Evans celebrated Wales’ first gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Australia in his own unique style.

Evans’ joy spilled over as he grabbed hold of a Wales flag, held aloft his coach Ray Williams and then dashed towards the crowd inside the arena to celebrate wildly.

His triumph, in the men’s 69kg category, capped off a fairytale sports story.

Evans gave up his trade as painter and decorator and moved from his home in north Wales to Leeds so he could train with other Great Britain weightlifters at Headingley’s National Performance Centre.

Evans lifted a total of 299kg to hold off the challenge of Sri Lanka’s Indika Dissanayake Mudiyanselage, while Deepak Lather of India claimed bronze.

Cyclist Lewis Oliva supplied Wales with a second medal and promptly thanked staff at a Cardiff pub for supplying him with a diet of Guinness after pedalling to a shock silver.

The 25-year-old, who is following in the tracks of Wales rugby star Jamie Roberts by combining an elite sporting career with training to be a doctor at Cardiff University, was competing in a star-studded men’s keirin in the Anna Meares Velodrome.

Olivia quit being a full-time athlete with the Great Britain team after seven years but has got faster.

“I literally can’t believe it. Everything in the last two years has been building up to this and to beat those guys in the final was brilliant,” said the 25-year-old. Oliva did it the hard way, having to qualify for the second round via the repechage after finishing down the field in the opening round.

“If you are going to come all the way to Australia you need to get your money’s worth and get an extra round in!” she quipped.

Host nation Australia’s Matt Glaetzer, the world sprint champion, struck gold, with New Zealand’s Ed Dawkins in bronze.

“I’m so stacked,” said Oliva, before adding: “It just goes to show what you can achieve with the right work-life balance.

“I would like to thank the Conway Pub back home in Pontcanna for supplying me with Guinness!,” joked Oliva.

Wales’ gymnasts finished fourth in the women’s team competition after slipping out of a medal place.

Meanwhile Australia beat a Welsh table tennis line-up, which included 11-year-old prodigy Anna Hursey, 3-1 in the quarter-finals.