Gareth Evans: Welsh weightlifter reflects on career with a smile

Evans on the podium with Dissanayake Mudiyanselage of Sri Lanka (left) and Lather Deepak of India (right)

Wales' Commonwealth Games gold medal-winning weightlifter Gareth Evans says he felt the time was right to retire from the sport.

Evans won gold at Gold Coast 2018 with victory in the men's -69kg and also represented Wales in 2010 and 2014.

The 35-year-old, a member of Team GB at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, wanted to retire on his own terms.

"I knew it was time. One more games was maybe a little too optimistic," Evans told BBC Radio Wales Sport.

"I'm nearly 36 and I've been lifting weights for 24 years so you can only imagine how big a part of my life it's been.

"I've known for a while that the end was very close, but because it hadn't happened it didn't seem like a real thing.

"I've been really unfortunate with injuries in the last 12-18 months and everything else that's been going on in the world as well. It feels right.

"To end my career on my own terms in a sport like weightlifting, I'm happy that I managed to do it like that.

"I've had so many friends and so many lifters that I looked up to when I was growing up who have had to retire because of injury.

"As a young teen I set myself the goal of going and competing at an OIympics and winning Commonwealth gold.

"To be able to look back at what I've done and all the milestones that I've achieved along the way… it's made me smile."

Evans had wrist surgery in September 2019 and had resumed training in early 2020, but the pandemic disrupted his plans.

"I wasn't allowed in the gym and couldn't train in any way, shape or form that I wanted to," he added.

Gareth Evans competing at London 2012

"I took a little bit of a knock there and through 2020 I was looking at alternative ways to keep my mind busy without lifting weights and I found my road bike.

"2021 wasn't the best of years. I missed the British Championships through injury, missed two other qualifiers through injury.

"We were supposed to fly to Uzbekistan in December for the Commonwealth and World Championships, which was a combined competition.

"Wales pulled out because of the Omicron variant and that left me with one more chance in the British Championship to qualify, and it didn't go to plan on the day.

"I hadn't had the run-in that I wanted training wise. You can't blame one thing or another, but it was a collection of misfortune and injury brought it all to a head."

Evans' pursuit of his Olympic dream meant great personal sacrifices in the run up to London 2012, which not only involved giving up his job as a painter and decorator.

He had to be away from his three-year-old daughter in to train full-time at British weightlifting's headquarters in Leeds.

"I was coming back, but not as regular as I wanted; maybe once every four or five weeks for a weekend," Evans said.

"So to not be involved in her life for such a long time at a really young age was really hard for me.

"But I did it not just for me - I wanted her to be proud of her dad.

"To go away to make the sacrifice and for it to pay off, now that she's nearly 14-years-old she appreciates that and understands why I did it.

"That's nearly just as special as competing in the games for me."

Coaching is something he hopes to go into, and Evans will take on board the experience learned from various coaches over the years.

Gareth Evans proudly wearing a Wrexham shirt during a session at the gym

None more so than another son of Holyhead, Ray Williams.

"He started coaching me as a gobby 16-year-old," joked Evans, who was introduced to the sport by his PE teacher Simon Roach.

"Me and him have been absolutely inseparable as a coach and athlete for the last 20 years and he stuck by me, where probably a lot of people wouldn't have, through thick and thin.

"We've had a few little rough patches, but he's been a massive inspiration for me as an athlete for what he's achieved and what he has done.

"I couldn't have asked for a better coach or a better friend."

Now retired from weightlifting, Evans will have more time to indulge in his other sporting passion.

"I'm looking forward to getting to Wrexham to watch the football a little bit more," he said.

"That's had to take a bit of a back seat, especially the last six or eight years."