​Adele Nicoll defended her Welsh Athletics Championships shot put title with a best throw of 16.96m, cementing her three-time UK champion status. The Winter Olympian, who competed in both the mono bob and the two-woman bobsleigh at Milano Cortina in February, had pulled out of the previous weekend’s UK Championships due to injury but returned in Leckwith, Cardiff, delivering a solid series of throws. “While the distance wasn’t what I wanted, we did see the consistent technique,” Nicoll said, noting that her winning effort came in the second round. She added, “My goal is to be ready for the Commonwealth Games and throw far in Glasgow.”
Elsewhere at the Welsh Athletics Championships, Alex Azu claimed the men’s 200m title in 21.27 seconds, after finishing sixth at the UK Championships last weekend. Keeley Little won the women’s 200m in 24.10. Tokyo 2020 Olympian Joe Brier captured the men’s 400m in 46.14, while Millie Webb narrowly beat Ffion Roberts by 0.04 seconds to win the women’s 400m in 55.64. Thomas Wilcock topped the men’s 110m hurdles in 13.83, with Dani Hales taking the women’s title in 13.59.
Commonwealth Games-bound Thomas Walley won the men’s pole vault after finishing second at the UK Championships, clearing 5.10m to beat Will Lane and Arthur Reilly, who both cleared 5.00m. Amelia Fettis won the women’s hammer with 58.06m, and Mike Jenkins won the men’s discus with 53.99m. Harrison Walsh beat Wales teammate Aled Sion Davies in the men’s para ambulant discus; Walsh’s 56.08m placed him ahead of Davies, as both prepare for Glasgow after their Birmingham podiums four years ago. Jac Sheehan claimed the para seated shot with 7.90m in round five, overtaking Kieran Jones’s 7.71m, while Ellie Bowen finished third with 6.20m ahead of her Commonwealth Games debut at 17.
Bethan Davies added the Welsh title to her British title by winning the women’s 5km race walk, with Guy Thomas securing the men’s race gold after a silver at the UK Championships. In a fiercely contested men’s 800m final, Thomas Loynes edged Henry Evans by 0.01 seconds in 1:57.82. Imogen Tanner won the women’s 800m in 2:11.06. Lauren Hill clinched the women’s triple jump with a final-round 12.45m to beat Amelia Gray by a single centimeter. Nahbi Odeh took the men’s triple jump with 15.34m on his first jump, while Benji Pearson won the men’s javelin with 68.06m in the fifth round, rounding out the Welsh Championships action ahead of the Commonwealth Games.