How will a smaller Commonwealth Games affect Team Wales?

Charlotte Carey and Anna Hursey won table tennis bronze for Wales at Birmingham 2022 - but their sport will not be at the 2026 event in Glasgow

Fewer sports, fewer athletes, fewer medals.

The Commonwealth Games is changing - and almost everyone involved accepts it has to.

But what impact will the slimmed-down version in Glasgow in 2026 have on Team Wales?

'Disappointment for Welsh sport'

Wales finished eighth in the medal table two years ago in Birmingham.

But almost a quarter of its medallists from the 2022 Games would now not be able to compete.

The loss of table tennis, rhythmic gymnastics, squash and triathlon would have cost Wales nine of its 38 medal-winners.

Non Stanford is a former world champion triathlete who went to the Rio Olympics, but her silver in the mixed team event in Birmingham was one of the highlights of her career.

"I think it will have a really big effect," she told BBC Sport Wales.

"The Commonwealth Games allow some of our developing athletes to experience a major Games.

"The only time I got to race in a Welsh tri suit was at a Commonwealth Games. So it’s a big disappointment."

That sentiment from Stanford explains the unique position the Commonwealth Games hold in Welsh sport.

They are both a pathway and a pinnacle - the chance to get experience of a major international event, whilst at the same time giving athletes an unrivalled opportunity to compete in the red of Wales.

In 2022 a relatively unknown teenage cyclist called Emma Finucane won two bronze medals for Wales in the velodrome.

It set her on a path to become an Olympic gold medallist and three-time world champion.

Emma Finucane (left) won bronze in the women's team sprint and individual sprint at the 2022 Commonwealth Games - before going on to become Olympic and world champion

Another triple cycling world champion - Anna Morris - credits the Commonwealth Games for giving her the platform that led to her first call-up by British Cycling.

But despite concerns the Commonwealths had more recently become a 'mini-Olympics', they are not just a stepping stone to the greatest show on earth.

For so many athletes in Wales, they are the highest peak they can reach. Certainly whilst donning the dragon.

Some feel so strongly about it that I have heard numerous Olympians and Paralympians speak of being unsatisfied with their career achievements until they have done it for Wales.

At the 2018 Games in Australia, I asked one Welsh gold medallist if they were looking forward to hearing the anthem on the podium.

"Yeah", she said, "and I'm going to sing it too."

The Games just bring out something different in Welsh athletes, which explains why there is still overwhelming positivity that they are going ahead in Glasgow at all.

Squash squeezed out - what else?

But there is still huge disappointment amongst the other sports excluded.

Squash was on a real high after it was confirmed as being part of the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

It also brought Team Wales a Commonwealth silver medal in 2022 - thanks to Joel Makin - and bronze in 2018 from Tesni Evans.

But it has become one of the big casualties from the 2026 event.

Squash Wales said it was "incredibly disappointed, particularly given our previous success" and expressed concerns over future funding.

Sport Wales have attempted to ease concerns over funding, insisting there will be no major funding implications following the decision to reduce the number of sports at the Games.

Only a small percentage of funding is based on performances at a Commonwealth Games - so they claim future funding should not be affected greatly either.

Anna Hursey represented Wales aged 11 at the 2018 Games

Table tennis is also out.

The sport which gave rise to Anna Hursey, Wales' youngest international athlete.

The Cardiff teenager made global headlines in 2018, when Team Wales selected her for the Gold Coast Games when she was just 11-years-old.

She went to her second Games in Birmingham in 2022 and won bronze in the women's doubles alongside Charlotte Carey.

In the summer she became the first Welsh table tennis player to go to an Olympic Games - and praised the experience she was able to get representing Wales along the way.

Table Tennis Wales are yet to publicly comment on the sport not making the cut for Glasgow.

Sarah Jones has been to two Olympic Games with Great Britain and three Commonwealths with Wales

Hockey's exclusion led to a strong reaction from the game's boss in Wales.

Chief executive Paul Whapham said it was "deeply disappointing" and would have a wide-reaching impact.

"This decision is especially disheartening given the lack of use of the 2014 Glasgow legacy venue," he continued, "which was specifically built to host world-class hockey events.

"The exclusion not only impacts our athletes, but also the wider hockey community, who cherish the sport’s place on the international stage.

"We will continue to advocate for hockey’s rightful inclusion and remain committed to growing the sport both in Wales and globally."

Excitement for the Games remains

At Birmingham 2022, 75-year-old Gordon Llewellyn won a silver medal in the lawn bowls.

Three days later Anna Hursey - 59 years his junior - won her bronze in the table tennis.

It is a unique event and Commonwealth Games Wales are delighted it will live on.

"We are grateful", admits its chair, Gareth Davies.

"All credit to Commonwealth Games Scotland for stepping up to the mark to secure the event.

"You've got to feel for the sports who will miss out on these Games, but we need to restructure the model because countries can't afford to stage the glitzy events we've seen over the years.

"This model could be a precursor for future events, which then perhaps brings different countries in to host a future Games."

Although Davies did stop short of saying Wales could be a future host.

Geraint Thomas won the men's road race in Glasgow back in 2014.

The last time Glasgow hosted the Commonwealths, a certain Geraint Thomas took the gold in the men's road race.

Even with a Tour de France yellow jersey and two Olympic gold medals, he still ranks that win as one of his career highlights.

Road cycling will not be held in Glasgow in 2026. Mountain biking also does not make the cut.

But the sport's governing body, Beicio Cymru, is keen to point out the good news of having track cycling in the programme.

And that seems to be the overriding theme in Wales: focus on the positives.

Because given how close we came to no host at all, in 2026 it is this or nothing.

And nothing would be so much worse.