The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 as the British Empire Games and, with the exception of 1942 and 1946, has successively run every four years since. The event was called the British Empire Games from 1930 to 1950, the British Empire and Commonwealth Games from 1954 to 1966, and the British Commonwealth Games from 1970 to 1974. The event removed the word British from its title for the 1978 Games and has maintained its current name ever since.
Sport in the United Kingdom plays an important role in British culture and the United Kingdom has played a significant role in the organisation and spread of sporting culture globally. In the infancy of many organised sports, the Home Nations were heavily involved in setting out the formal rules of many sports and formed among the earliest separate governing bodies, national teams and domestic league competitions. After Partition of Ireland in 1922, some sports formed separate bodies for Northern Ireland, though many continued to be organised on an all-Ireland basis. For this reason, in many though not all sports, most domestic and international sport is carried on a Home Nations basis, and England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland are recognised as national entities. This is in contrast to the majority of other states that participate in international sports which field a single national team to represent the entire polity.
The British Olympic Association is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It represents the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom, but also incorporate representatives from eight of the eleven inhabited British Overseas Territories, and the three Crown Dependencies, who do not have their own separate Olympics teams.
Scotland is one of only six countries to have competed in every Commonwealth Games since the first Empire Games in 1930. The others are Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand and Wales. The Commonwealth Games is the only major multi-sport event in which Scottish athletes and teams compete as Scotland; otherwise Scotland participates in multi-sport events as part of a Great Britain team.
The United Kingdom has been represented at every modern Olympic Games. By end of the 2024 Summer Olympics, it is third in the all-time Summer Olympic medal table by overall number of medals, and fourth in number of gold medals won. London hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1908, 1948 and 2012.
Sport in Wales plays a prominent role in Welsh culture. Like the other countries of the United Kingdom, Wales enjoys independent representation in major world sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup and in the Rugby World Cup, but competes as part of Great Britain in some other competitions, including the Olympics.
England is one of only six teams to have competed in every Commonwealth Games since the first Empire Games in 1930. The others are Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales.
Robert Morgan is a retired Welsh diver, who competing for Wales and Great Britain is best known for winning a bronze and a silver medal in the men's 10 m platform at the European Championships in the early 1990s, and the first Welsh diver to win gold at the Commonwealth Games.
Jazmin Roxy "Jazz" Carlin is a former British competitive swimmer, who previously represented Wales and the Great Britain swimming team. She competed primarily in endurance freestyle events, and was based at the University of Bath. She won gold for Wales at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, double gold for Great Britain in the 400 metres and 800 metres freestyle at both the 2014 European Championships and the 2015 European Championships before winning two silver medals for Great Britain in the same events behind Katie Ledecky at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Ryley Batt, is an Australian wheelchair rugby player. He has won two gold, one silver medal and one bronze medal at six Paralympic Games.
Athletics has a long history in Wales, with many events recognised today codified during the Victorian period. The first amateur athletic clubs in Wales were formed in the 1870s, while the first championships began in the early 20th century. Wales began competing as a country in international athletic events in the 1920s and has since produced a notable number of world class sportspeople including many medal winning Commonwealth, World, Olympic, Paralympic and European champions. Wales competes in the Commonwealth Games under its own flag but at the Olympic Games, Welsh athletes compete alongside those of Scotland, England and Northern Ireland as part of a Great Britain team.
Georgia Beth Davies is a British competition swimmer who has represented Great Britain in the Olympic Games and European championships, and swam for Wales in the Commonwealth Games. She has won gold in the Commonwealth Games and European Championships. She currently represents Energy Standard in the International Swimming League.
Wales competed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. Prior to the games the Commonwealth Games Council for Wales set itself a target of 27 medals, surpassing the 2010 total of 20 medals won in Delhi. After the withdrawal of World champion competitors Helen Jenkins, Non Stanford and Becky James, Chef de Mission Brian Davies conceded that the initial target was optimistic, but the target was actually attained by 30 July, the sixth day of the competition. Wales finished 13th in the overall medal table, but joint 8th, with Nigeria, in terms of the total medals won.
Calum George Jarvis is a Welsh competitive swimmer who has represented Great Britain in World Championships and the Olympics, and Wales in the Commonwealth Games. Jarvis competes primarily in freestyle and backstroke events. In 2014, he competed at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow as part of the Welsh team, winning the bronze medal in the 200m freestyle.
Lauren Louise Price is a Welsh professional boxer, former amateur boxer and former kickboxer and footballer. She has held the WBA, IBO, and Ring female welterweight World titles since 11 May 2024. She was the first-ever female British professional boxing champion having won the welterweight title on 6 May 2023 and holding it until vacating the belt when she became World champion. While representing Wales in the amateur sport she won a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, becoming the first Welsh woman to win a Commonwealth Games boxing medal. Four years later she surpassed this achievement by winning gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, followed by a gold at the 2019 World Championships. While representing Great Britain, she won gold medals at the 2019 European Games and 2020 Summer Olympics.
Marc Wyatt is a Welsh international lawn bowler.
Wales competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, from April 4 to April 15, 2018. It is Wales's 21st appearance at the Commonwealth Games, having competed at every Games since their inception in 1930.
Alisha Joyce-Butchers is a Welsh rugby union player who plays flanker for Bristol Bears Women and the Wales women's national rugby union team. She made her debut for the Wales rugby union team in 2016 and has played in 29 matches for the national side. Butchers scored her first international try in 2016 in a Women's Six Nations Championship victory over Scotland. She works as an Active Young People Officer and a Girls' Hub Officer while continuing her rugby career.
Charlotte Carey is a Welsh table tennis player. Her highest career ITTF ranking was 98 in 2018.
Wales competed at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, between 28 July and 8 August 2022. Having competed at every Games since their 1930 inauguration, it was Wales' twenty-second appearance.
