The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games gets under way on Thursday and features a wide range of sports such as swimming, table tennis and netball.
After a fantastic Tokyo Olympics performance last year, will Derbyshire fare even better at this year's multi-sports event where England are the host nation?
Derbyshire Media Company have identified a remarkable amount of 19 athletes who are either from Derbyshire or have very strong links to the county that are included in the Team England squad. As a preview for the upcoming Commonwealth Games, we've detailed below all the athletes to look out for over the next couple of weeks that will be doing Derbyshire proud and assessing their chances of medal success.
DAN BIGHAM - (Road Cycling - men's time trial; Track Cycling - men's individual pursuit & men's team pursuit) - formerly trained with Derbyshire Institute of Sport
The 30 year-old is from Newcastle-under-Lyme but is an alumni of Derbyshire Institute of Sport's training group. Bigham is a two-time gold medalist at the UCI Track World Cup in the men's team pursuit event and has won a number of track cycling national titles. Last year, Bigham broke Sir Bradley Wiggins's British hour record. Earlier this year, he finished in second place in the National Road Cycling Time Trial event. Dan is a huge contender for at least one medal and could well be collecting a gold medal very soon.
GREG BUTLER - (Swimming - 50m breaststroke, 100m breaststroke & 200m breaststroke) - trained with City of Derby Swimming Club
The 21 year-old arrives at these Games in good form. Butler can claim to be the fastest ever British breaststroke swimmer over 100m and 200m for a 14 year-old; that includes a certain Adam Peaty at that age! In March, Butler won two silver medals at the FFN Golden Tour in France. It will be fascinating to see just how far Butler can go at his debut Commonwealth Games.
EMILY CAMPBELL - (Weightlifting - +87kg division) - trains in Alfreton
Emily Campbell is a hugely inspiring figure for British sport overall - not just for weightlifting. Weightlifting certainly isn't the first sport anyone thinks of when we think of British success but Campbell has been a trailblazer in the sport in the last few years. Most notably, the 28 year-old from Nottingham made history at last year's Olympic Games when she became the first ever British female weightlifter to win an Olympic medal after claiming a surprise silver in Tokyo. This was certainly no one-off though. Campbell won a bronze medal at last year's World Championships and is a two-time European champion in the +87kg weight division, winning gold last year and earlier on this year. Campbell competed at the last Commonwealth Games in 2018 where she picked up a bronze medal at the Gold Coast. There's no question that Campbell will be aiming for gold at this year's Games. Of course, Campbell's Commonwealth Games has already been a memorable one before any of the sports events have even started. Campbell has been announced as one of England's flag bearers for Thursday's opening ceremony in Birmingham. Campbell's strong Derbyshire link comes from the fact that she trains at the famous Atlas gym in Alfreton.
IMOGEN CLARK - (Swimming - 50m breaststroke & 100m breaststroke) - from Chesterfield
Clark is 23 and will be hugely motivated to perform strongly in Birmingham after missing out on Team GB's swimming squad at last year's Olympics which performed outstandingly. Imogen has won one medal before at a major event when she claimed silver in the 50m breaststroke event at the 2018 European Aquatics Championships.
DAVE ELLIS - (Paratriathlon - Men's PTVI) - from Heanor
Ellis is a huge contender to bring a Commonwealth gold medal back to Derbyshire this summer. Dave, who will be competing in the paratriathlon visually-impaired event, has won a number of gold medals at major events in the last few years. The 36 year-old is a multiple World and European champion in the PTVI event. However, this is the first time this event has been on the Commonwealth Games programme and so Ellis will be looking to add a new major title to his collection. Sadly, Ellis had a nightmare at last year's Paralympics when a broken wheel forced him to retire from the race. That setback though will provide huge motivation for Ellis to go for gold in Birmingham.
SARAH GLENN - (Women's T20 Cricket) - from Derby
Glenn will be featuring in one of the most eagerly-anticipated sports at this summer's Games. This is the first time ever that T20 cricket has been included as a Commonwealth sport and with the men not competing in the sport at these Games, this is a huge opportunity for the women's game to shine in the cricket spotlight in front of a huge global audience. Sarah specialises as a leg-break spin bowler and currently plays for Worcestershire and Central Sparks at club level. The 22 year-old already has three years of experience as an international player with England and is a huge asset to the team with excellent bowling averages across all formats of the one-day game. The England women's T20 team has a big chance of claiming a historic debut Commonwealth medal and Glenn is one of the team's key players.
SABBIE HEESH - (Hockey) - from Derby
Heesh is the second choice goalkeeper for England's women's hockey side behind Olympic gold medalist Maddie Hinch. She was part of the Team GB squad that won a bronze medal at last year's Olympic Games. The 30 year-old plays her club hockey for Surbiton in the Women's England Hockey League.
JAMIE INGRAM - (Swimming - 100m butterfly) - from South Wingfield
Ingram won a bronze medal in the men's 100m butterfly at this year's British Swimming Championships. This will be Jamie's first senior major event.
HOLLIE PEARNE-WEBB - (Hockey) - from Belper
Pearne-Webb is the captain of England's women's hockey team and plays an enormous role in the team. The 31 year-old defender is a very experienced international player and has enjoyed a superb career. Pearne-Webb's career highlight so far is undoubtedly when she scored the winning penalty to beat The Netherlands in a penalty shoot-out in the 2016 Olympics final and win the gold medal in front of a British TV audience of ten million viewers. Pearne-Webb captained the Team GB side that won a bronze medal at last year's Olympics in Tokyo. In regards to the Commonwealth Games, Pearne-Webb won a bronze medal in 2014 and silver in 2018. Hollie will be going all out to go one better this summer to add a Commonwealth gold to her CV which already has an Olympics and European title on there.
ADAM PEATY - (Swimming - 50m breaststroke & 100m breaststroke) - formerly trained with City of Derby Swimming Club
Where do we even start with this man? Peaty is one of Britain's greatest ever swimmers - arguably the greatest. Adam is a three-time Olympic champion, eight-time World champion, 16-time European champion and three-time Commonwealth champion. Peaty has also broken world records multiple times in his career. He really rose to fame last year following his success in Tokyo and was even a contestant on last year's Strictly Come Dancing show. 2022 hasn't been the best of years for Peaty as he had to pull out of the World Aquatics Championships due to a fractured foot. However, Peaty is now fully fit once again and is a huge favourite from Team England's squad overall to win at lTraeast gold medal in Birmingham. Peaty is from Uttoxeter but did spend a lot of time training with the City of Derby Swimming Club in his teenage years.
WILL PERRETT - (Track Cycling - reserve rider) - formerly trained with Derbyshire Institute of Sport
The Nottingham-born track cyclist may well not feature directly at Birmingham but will be called upon if any of the English track cycling team picks up an injury. Perrett is a three-time national champion at senior level.
LIAM PITCHFORD - (Table Tennis - men's singles, men's doubles, mixed doubles & men's team event) - from Chesterfield
Chesterfield's table tennis maestro will be a very busy man over the next couple of weeks. As well as going for gold in the men's singles event, Pitchford is partnering with Paul Drinkhall in the men's doubles, Tin-Tin Ho in the mixed doubles and competing alongside Drinkhall, Sam Walker and Tom Jarvis in the men's team event. The 29 year-old has won a staggering eight medals at the Commonwealth Games: one gold, four silver and three bronze. The sole gold medal so far came in the men's doubles event at the last Games at the Gold Coast in 2018. Liam will certainly be aiming for multiple medals in Birmingham and looking to collect at least one gold. Pitchford is currently ranked 20th in the singles event world rankings and has been a regular in the top 20 for a number of years now. He's also the second highest ranked competitor in the singles event in Birmingham. Liam will be looking to put behind him an awful Olympic Games last year in where he lost at the first hurdle in his one and only event in Tokyo.
MOLLY RENSHAW - (Swimming - 100m breaststroke & 200m breaststroke) - formerly trained with Derbyshire Institute of Sport
The 26 year-old swimmer from Mansfield is a one-time short course World champion and three-time long course European champion. Her best event is undoubtedly the 200m breaststroke and it could well be a fascinating battle between herself and Buxton's Abbie Wood for gold in that event. Renshaw won a silver and bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and won a silver medal in the 200m breaststroke at the Gold Coast in 2018. Renshaw also competed for Team GB at last year's Olympics.
JAKE STEWART - (Road Cycling - men's road race) - lives in Birch Vale
The Coventry-born cyclist has the potential to make a name for himself at the Commonwealth Games. The 22 year-old has had a good year so far. He finished third in the Four Days of Dunkirk event and also secured third place in the Grand Prix du Morbihan. Birmingham 2022 will be Stewart's first major senior event.
CHARLIE TANFIELD - (Track Cycling - men's individual pursuit & men's team pursuit) - formerly trained with Derbyshire Institute of Sport
The 25 year-old hails from Great Ayton in North Yorkshire and won two medals at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. Tanfield won a gold medal in the men's individual pursuit and a silver medal in the men's team pursuit. Earlier this year, Charlie picked up a silver and a bronze medal at the UCI Track Nations Cup in Glasgow and also claimed a silver medal in the men's individual pursuit at the National Track Championships.
ANNA TOMAN - (Hockey) - from Derby
Like Belper's Hollie Pearne-Webb, Toman was part of the Team GB squad that won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics last year. Toman plays her club hockey in The Netherlands for SCHC and previously played for Belper. Anna also won a bronze medal at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018 as part of the England side. Toman performs key defensive duties alongside Pearne-Webb at international level. The 29 year-old will see this as a real opportunity to claim her first ever senior gold medal.
JACOB WHITTLE - (Swimming - 100m freestyle) - from Alfreton
Remarkably, Jacob is still only 17 years old and it's fair to say the Alfreton swimmer has a huge future ahead of him. Whittle competed in the Tokyo Olympics last year at the age of 16 and was comfortably the youngest member of Team GB's swimming squad. Whittle performed impressively in Tokyo and showed great maturity for someone still so young and at the very early stages of their senior career. Jacob is certainly regarded as a future Olympic medalist who could even go all the way. Whittle goes into the Birmingham Games in good form; he won a silver and bronze medal at the recent European Junior Swimming Championships. While the relay teams still haven't been confirmed yet, it's likely that Jacob will feature in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay event which would be a great opportunity for him to claim his first ever senior championships medal.
ABBIE WOOD - (Swimming - 200m breaststroke & 200m individual medley) - from Buxton
Agonisingly, Wood finished just milliseconds short of claiming a medal at last year's Tokyo Olympics. Overall, Wood performed very strongly at Tokyo; she reached three finals (finishing fourth in one of them) at the age of 22. Abbie has a huge future ahead of her and, like Jacob Whittle, is regarded as a future Olympic medalist who could go all the way and claim gold. Wood goes into Birmingham in good form. She won three gold medals at the British Swimming Championships in Sheffield earlier this year and reached two finals at this year's World Aquatics Championships in Budapest. In 2020, Wood won two gold medals and a silver medal at the long course European Swimming Championships. Wood is also expected to compete in relay events at Birmingham and is a big contender to bring a Commonwealth gold medal back to Birmingham. Wood, also like Whittle, certainly has the potential to become a household name in the next few years.
SARAH VASEY - (Swimming - 50m breaststroke & 100m breaststroke) - from Derby
The 25 year-old swimmer won a gold medal at the last Commonwealth Games after winning the women's 50m breaststroke event. She also was part of the women's 4x100m medley relay team that won gold at the long-course European Swimming Championships two years ago. Vasey competed at the Tokyo Olympics last year but did not win a medal. She rounds off an extremely strong Derbyshire presence in swimming at Birmingham 2022.
Comments