MEDALS CONTINUE TO FLOW FOR WALES
WALES picked up four medals on the fourth day of the Commonwealth Games in Australia to remain eighth in the table with 10.
Olivia Breen added another gold to her medal collection after leaping to glory at the Gold Coast Games.
The world para-champion took top spot in the women’s T38 long jump to give Wales a third Commonwealth triumph.
Breen set a Commonwealth record of 4.56m in the third round but went further with a personal best of 4.86m with her final jump.
It was nearly half a metre more than Australia’s Erin Cleaver, who she also beat into second in the world para-championship, managed.
“I just went for it after three nojumps and I hit it,” said Breen.
“After the Paralympics in Rio, the Commonwealth Games was my aim and I have done it and I am so happy. It’s a dream come true.”
Breen contracted a meningitistype illness at birth and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy aged two.
Bowler Laura Daniels picked up her second Commonwealth silver medal after leading the world’s top women’s singles player Jo Edwards 17-16 but the New Zealander came back to win a riveting final 21-17.
“It started off well and I managed to get ahead but at this level I know that is never the case for very long,” said Daniels.
“I never thought it was mine because I know the calibre of Jo. She came back at me and I had a few loose ends which probably cost me the medal.”
Race walker Bethan Davies took bronze in the women’s 20km race walk after weathering hot and sticky conditions.
“It is not what I am used to but I have been well prepared with a lot of cooling strategies and felt the best I have in this type of environment,” said Davies afterwards
“Not many people know about race walking. It is probably the forgotten athletics event so hopefully doing this will get people understanding a little bit more about it.
“I’m absolutely thrilled. Hopefully doing this will get more people interested in walking.”
Laura Hughes won Wales’s 10th medal, and the fourth by a Welsh woman yesterday, picking up bronze in the women’s 75kg weightlifting.
“I gave it everything and am really pleased with my performance,” she said.
But cyclist Elinor Barker failed in her quest for a second medal after winning Saturday’s women’s points race at the Anna Meares Velodrome.
She challenged in the 10km scratch race but Australia’s trio kept her out in the wind for two laps and she faded to 12th.
Barker’s younger sister Megan was 11th, with Manon Lloyd sprinting to seventh behind home winner Amy Cure, Scotland’s Neah Evans and England’s Emily Kay, with race favourite Katie Archibald (Scotland) fourth.
Jon Mould was seventh in a sensational 40km points race, with gold medallist Mark Stewart (Scotland) having to be carried off his bicycle and collapsing in a heap after an extraordinary effort to marshal favourite Cam Meyer (Australia).
Wales are guaranteed more medals with Rosie Eccles assured of at least a bronze after reaching the semi-finals of the women’s boxing tournament with victory over Tonga’s Magan Maka in their 69kg quarter-final.
Bowlers Daniel Salmon and Marc Wyett reached the final of the men’s pairs after beating the Cook Islands 21-14 in their semi-final.
Swimmer Xavier Castelli recorded a time of 25.44sec as he finished fourth in the men’s 50m backstroke final behind an all-Australian top three, while Alys Thomas was fifth in the women’s 50m butterfly final.
Jazz Carlin, a gold medallist in Glasgow four years ago and an Olympic runner-up at Rio 2016, reached the final of the women’s 800m freestyle.
The defending champion was second in her heat behind Australia’s Ariarne Titmus with a time of 8min 36.52sec.
Ellena Jones joins her after qualifying seventh fastest in 8:43.89, 200m breaststroke bronze medallist Chloe Tutton eased her way into the final of the 100m breaststroke, while Calum Jarvis powered into the final of the men’s 100m butterfly with a thirdplace finish in his semi.
Squash players Joel Makin and Tesni Evans lost their respective semi-finals but will each compete for a bronze medal.
Makin, who is 40th in the world, punched well above his ranking to storm into a two-sets-to-nil lead over New Zealander Paul Coll.
But Coll battled back to square an epic encounter, which lasted more than two hours, and saw off a tiring opponent 11-8 in the final set.
Evans lost her semi against England’s Sarah-Jane Perry in three straight sets.
Coral Kennerley has qualified for the final of the women’s 10m air pistol, while Michael Bamsey made it through to the men’s 10m air rifle shootout.
Gymnast Jac Davies was fourth in the men’s pommel final and seventh in the floor exercise, Holly Jones was fourth in the women’s vault, while Maisie Methuen and Latalia Bevan were seventh and eighth in the uneven bars final.