Carys Parry

Carys’s finest performance was taking the 2010 Commonwealth Games hammer silver medal in Delhi.

She is only the 5th Welsh female field event athlete to win a Commonwealth medal, behind Ruth Martin-Jones, Venissa Head, Julie Crane and Sally Simpson.

Carys was consistently amongst the best hammer throwers in Britain over a 15 year period up to her final year of competition when she finished 6^th in her fourth Commonwealth Games appearance in Australia in 2018. In the UK rankings compiled by the much respected athletics statistician and broadcaster the late Peter Matthews, she was ranked in the top three on no fewer than 8 occasions.

The Rhondda AC athlete first showed her credentials in 2003 when she won the UK under 23 title, and this was the springboard to her future top class performances. She also took the Welsh title in 2003 for the first of her remarkable record of 12 titles – one ahead of Sarah Moore. Eleven of these titles were won consecutively to underline her dominance in the event. Carys’s 2008 Welsh title win with 66.30m still stands as the best winning performance in the championships.

Her personal best of 66.80m set in 2014  remains the Welsh record in 2022.

Carys’s induction into the Welsh Athletics Hall of Fame is richly deserved as one of Wales’ finest track and field athletes.

Written by Clive Williams.