Weightlifters and Powerlifters announced in Wales’ quest for 2010 Commonwealth Games glory
By Effective Communication
BIN lorry driver Natasha Perdue is among the team of six athletes chosen to represent Wales at weightlifting and powerlifting at this year’s Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
The team will also feature PE teacher Michaela Breeze, who struck gold in the Melbourne Games four years ago, battled with injury in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 – and is looking to retire on a high with success in Delhi.
The six were nominated by Wales Weightlifting and the Federation of Disability Sport Wales and will be heading for the Indian capital for the October tournament as part of an expected near 150-strong Welsh squad of sportsmen and women.
Representing Wales at weightlifting will be Michaela Breeze (63kg), who attended the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff and now lives and works in Devon; Gareth Evans (62kg), from Anglesey, a member of Holyhead Weightlifting Club and a painter and decorator by trade; and Natasha Perdue (69kg), who was born and brought up in Swansea and now lives and works in Leeds.
Representing Wales in the powerlifting competitions will be Kyron Duke, who trains at Cwmbran Stadium and is the reigning IWAS Junior World Champion; Julie Salmon, from Ynysybwl, near Pontypridd, who competed in the Athens Paralympic Games in 2004; and Daniel Steward, a former British Champion and bronze medalist in the World Junior Games in 2008.
The weightlifters will be coached in Delhi by Ray Williams, from Holyhead in Anglesey, who has been the National Weightlifting Coach for Wales for the last seven years. A former Welsh Weightlifting Champion and Celtic Nations titleholder, Williams won gold in the featherweight class at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh. Ray will be joined by Senior Regional Development Officer for Sports Wales, Jonathan Roberts. Roberts, who also attended Melbourne, is from Ammanford in Carmarthenshire.
Gideon Griffiths, the current Welsh Strength Association Champion at 90kg for the over-40’s, will coach the powerlifters. Born in Carmarthen, he competed for Wales at the Melbourne Games four years ago.
Coach Ray Williams said: “Wales has historically produced some very successful weightlifters and powerlifters and this is a particularly strong team with a good mix of experience and young talent.
“Our sport has been Wales’ highest achiever of medals at Commonwealth Games and we have provided a medal at every games since 1954. This is a remarkable achievement and we aim to keep this a living legacy.
“Michaela Breeze is a brilliant weightlifter – already one of the Commonwealth’s greatest. She is aiming to bring her glittering career to an end in Delhi with another medal-winning performance. Natasha Perdue has progressed well since Melbourne and has the potential to upset the favourites in the 69Kg division.”
Gareth John, Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Council for Wales, said: “Both of these teams are working as an integrated squad where non-disabled athletes and those with a disability are able to represent their country at the highest level.
“Our record in both disciplines is superb and I feel sure the athletes representing us on this occasion will try their utmost to replicate this. We wish them all well in their efforts.”
The Commonwealth Games weightlifting competition includes eight weight categories for men and seven categories for women, while the powerlifting event is an open class event for men and women in the Bench Press. The competition will take place over 10 days in the Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Complex in Delhi – part of the tournament’s main venue which will also host the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the full athletics programme.
Up to 8,000 competitors from 71 countries – including up to 200 Welsh athletes – will compete in 17 sports in the 2010 Games from October 3-14.
The tournament is the only multi-sport international event in which Wales competes as a country in its own right, and Welsh athletes hold 15 current Commonwealth Games records in 110 hurdles, 400 metres, cycling, shooting and weightlifting categories. Wales won 19 medals at the Melbourne Games four years ago.
Tags: Commonwealth Games, Delhi 2010, powerlifters, Team Wales, weightlifters
