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Wednesday 3rd - Aled Davies claims Commonwealth title!
03/08/2022 00:00, In Blog / Commonwealth Games /
What a night! Another busy day of athletics, and another GOLD medal. A delighted and very proud Aled Davies claimed a long awaited and deserved Commmonwealth F42-44 Discuss title, with fellow athlete Harrison Walsh taking a billiant Bronze.
With a mix of classifications in the competition, the Raza point scoring system was in operation to determine the medals and so it was tense to the very end with Harrison at one point in second, then fourth, before ultimatley securing Bronze. Aled was out in front from the start and clearly made up to take the Gold:
"This is the one I wanted. The one i've been dreaming of since 2014 and the disappointment back then. Its been a short turnaround since Tokyo from Shot to Discus but i've put everything into it. I've got a great team, with my incredible coach Ryan, who've suppported me all the way. Adam has held me together. I wanted more, but i'm going home with the Gold and that's all that matters."
Men's 100m: Jeremiah Azu contested semi-final three of the men’s 100m, running in lane one, he had a fantastic start and pushed all the way in a stacked field to finish second in a new lifetime best of 10.15 securing qualification for the final - the first Welshman to make a Commonwealth 100m final this century, and was straight down the tunnel to focus on the final. In an electric atmosphere in a packed Alexander stadium, Jeremiah again had a great start and fought his way to finish 5th in 10.19 in a race won by Kenya's
Women's Heptathlon: Lauren Evans started the day with the Long Jump. She leapt out to 5.61m, a season’s best, giving her 732 points and putting her 7th overall with two events to go. In the penultimate event of the Heptathlon, Lauren threw the javelin out to 30.17m with her second throw, a season’s best, gaining 480 points and taking her total to 4438 with just the 800m to go. Lauren ran 2:23:89, giving her another 771 points and a final total of 5209 placing her 7th . A fantastic debut at this level, and great experience which she’ll no doubt use to motivate herself to continue to improve.
"Amazing, It's been such a long two days, i'm so tired but i've loved it!"
Women's Shot put: It was a big night for Welsh throwers with British shot put champion, Adele Nicoll, also in action. Adele, who after a confident qualification yesterday, was on the medal hunt. Throwing 17.08 in the first round which was enough to get her through to the last eight and a further three throws. Unfortunately she was unable to pull out the throw and distance she was looking for, and finished the competition in 8th .
"My first major final is something I can be proud of, i'm frustrated looking at the scores and knowing I could have placed higher. But i'm a fighter, i'll go again, and i'll be back. Thank you so much for all the support."
Women's 100m: In the first of the three semi-finals, Hannah Brier racing in lane one, clocked 10.61 Putting her 8th bringing her 100m competition to a close but with the 200m still to come she was upbeat:
“I got out really well and shocked myself, got carried away with how fast it was, but its great, I’m very proud of myself. 200m tomorrow now which I love – and the atmosphere is amazing!”
T37/38 100m: Para-sprinter Rhys Jones was up next in a straight 100m final, he ran a strong race finishing 6th in 12.09. Not what he'd hoped for but as always Rhys was very proud to have competed for this country on the big stage:
"I'm a little disapponited with my performance but I can never be disappointed with representing Wales."
Men's 400m: In the monring, Joe Brier was up in heat four of seven of the men’s 400m. Having a busy summer with selection for all three major athletics Championships, Running out of lane two with Oregon Bronze medallist Matt Hudson-Smith just outside him, and training partner Cameron Chalmers of Guernsey also in the heat, Joe ran a controlled race to finish 3rd in 46.84 to safely qualify for the semi-finals.
“A solid run, yep happy, through to the semi-final on Friday when I can turn the screw. It was a great atmosphere and a great experience”