The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games came to an end on Monday evening following a spectacular closing ceremony. It was certainly a Games to cherish for England as they won 57 gold medals and 176 medals overall in what was their greatest Commonwealth Games performance in history. There were only three sports in total that England did not win a medal in at Birmingham 2022.
Locally, the county of Derbyshire also had an outstanding Commonwealth Games to follow a very encouraging Olympic Games performance from last year. Derbyshire won a variety of medals across a very wide range of sports including swimming, table tennis and paratriathlon. The figures show Derbyshire sport to be in excellent health and the Birmingham 2022 Games will hopefully act as a huge platform to build on where Derbyshire athletes can realise their full potential, become global champions and inspire future generations of Derbyshire sporting talent.
For the county, the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games couldn't have gone much better for Derbyshire and it's hard not to be excited about the future of a large number of these athletes who have dominated our television screens for the past couple of weeks. While swimming in particular has certainly seen a real boom in Derbyshire, it's important to note how many different sports saw Derbyshire success in Birmingham. With sterling work being carried out every year by the likes of Derbyshire Institute of Sport and the recent news that Chesterfield came second in an official study investigating the best towns in the UK for sports access, the future looks very bright.
Let's have a look at how each of our athletes with strong Derbyshire interest got on at Birmingham 2022:
Dan Bigham
Dan was part of England's men's team pursuit track cycling team that won a silver medal. They lost to New Zealand in an enthralling final. In the men's individual pursuit, Bigham finished in sixth place and just missed out on a place in the final. In road cycling, it turned out to be a case of what might have been in the men's time trial event. The Derbyshire Institute of Sport alumni finished in 12th position following a crash into the barriers where Bigham was lucky to avoid an injury. Dan was riding extremely well up to that point and looked to be in genuine contention for a medal.
Greg Butler
Butler, who formerly trained with the City of Derby Swimming Club, had an impressive Games collecting two medals at the swimming pool. Butler was part of the team that won gold in the men's 4x100m medley relay. Greg also won a bronze medal in the mixed 4x100m medley relay event. In terms of his three individual events, Butler reached the final in two of them. He finished fifth in the men's 200m breaststroke final and seventh in the men's 50m breaststroke event. Unfortunately, Butler was not able to qualify from the semi-finals in the men's 100m breaststroke event.
Emily Campbell
The weightlifting star couldn't have asked for a better Commonwealth Games. Before the sporting action had even started, Campbell was one of England's flag bearers for the opening ceremony. Once the action did get under way, Campbell was sensational and won a gold medal in the women's +87kg division. She also set a Commonwealth Games record in the process. Emily, who trains at the Atlas gym in Alfreton, is undoubtedly one of the UK's most charismatic and inspirational sporting figures. There is no question that she is a gold medal contender for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Imogen Clark
The Chesterfield swimming star enjoyed a real breakthrough major event in her career at Birmingham 2022. Clark put in a fabulous performance to win a silver medal in the women's 50m breaststroke event. In the women's 100m breaststroke event, Clark reached the semi-finals but just missed out on qualifying for the final. Imogen has recently been called up as a late addition to Great Britain's squad for the upcoming European Aquatics Championships in Italy.
Dave Ellis
After a superb performance in Birmingham, Ellis is close to achieving a perfect career in the paratriathlon. The Heanor star cantered to an outstanding gold medal victory in the paratriathlon PTVI event alongside his guide Luke Pollard. With a Commonwealth gold medal now sitting alongside multiple World and European titles, there is only one gold medal left for Ellis to secure in his career - a Paralympics gold medal. Dave will be going all out to complete the set at Paris 2024.
Sarah Glenn
In one of the very few disappointments at the Games, Derby's Sarah Glenn and the rest of the England T20 women's cricket team will be wondering how on earth they ended up without a medal whatsoever. After comfortably beating Sri Lanka, South Africa and New Zealand to finish top of their group, England threw away a terrific start to end up losing to India in the semi-final by just four runs in an agonising finish. To make matters worse, New Zealand then gained revenge on England after easily beating the hosts by eight wickets in the bronze medal match.
Sabbie Heesh
The goalkeeper from Derby was part of the England women's hockey squad that won a sensational gold medal.
Jamie Ingram
The South Wingfield swimming star won an excellent silver medal in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay. In his only individual event, Ingram reached the final of the men's 100m butterfly event where he finished in eighth position.
Hollie Pearne-Webb
After captaining England's women's hockey team to a sensational Commonwealth gold medal, Pearne-Webb has cemented herself as one of Derbyshire's greatest ever sportspeople. After previously winning a bronze and a silver at former Commonwealth Games events, the Belper defender finally won a Commonwealth title after England beat Australia 2-1 in the gold medal match. Hollie had a superb tournament overall in defence; England were unbeaten throughout the entire tournament and conceded only two goals which included a penalty shoot-out in the semi-final against New Zealand.
Adam Peaty
It was a rollercoaster of a Commonwealth Games for the multiple Olympic champion. Peaty, who formerly trained with the City of Derby Swimming Club, shocked everyone early on in Birmingham when he missed out on a medal altogether in the men's 100m breaststroke event. After finishing fourth, Peaty said afterwards in a post-race interview with the BBC that he'd recently lost the spark for the sport and needed time to reflect. In his final event though, Peaty returned to winning ways and won a spectacular gold medal in the men's 50m breaststroke final sparking wild celebrations. Peaty has now dropped out of the Great Britain squad for the upcoming European Aquatics Championships in order to fully recharge his batteries.
Will Perrett
Perrett was initially chosen as a reserve rider but was called into action to replace Ethan Hayter shortly before the Commonwealth Games started. In the velodrome, Perrett was part of the men's team pursuit track cycling team that won a silver medal. Later in the Games, Perrett finished ninth in the men's points race and finished tenth in the men's individual pursuit.
Liam Pitchford
Chesterfield's table tennis maestro picked up a very impressive three medals at Birmingham 2022. Initially, Liam felt like he'd let the team down when he lost to an opponent well outside the top 100 in the world rankings in a crucial match which saw England lose in the men's team event semi-final to Singapore. However, Pitchford won his match to help England defeat Nigeria to secure a bronze medal in the men's team event. Liam went on to retain his Commonwealth men's doubles title alongside Paul Drinkhall in a dramatic and highly entertaining final. Pitchford also went on to reach the men's singles final but was beaten 4-1 by India's Achanta Sharath Kamal.
Molly Renshaw
The Derbyshire Institute of Sport alumni won a bronze medal at the swimming pool in the women's 4x100m medley relay final. Renshaw came agonisingly close to winning two more medals in her individual events. Molly finished fourth in both the women's 100m breaststroke and women's 200m breaststroke finals.
Jake Stewart
Jake, who lives in Birch Vale, finished in 62nd position out of 124 competitors in the road cycling men's road race.
Charlie Tanfield
The Derbyshire Institute of Sport alumni was part of the track cycling team that won a silver medal in the men's team pursuit. Tanfield came very close to winning a second medal in the men's individual pursuit when he lost to Australia's Conor Leahy in the race-off for bronze.
Anna Toman
Derby's Anna Toman played a huge role in guiding England's women's hockey team to a first ever Commonwealth gold medal. The defender played in every single game throughout the tournament and kept four clean sheets out of six games in total. Toman also scored a goal in the pool matches against Ghana and Canada.
Jacob Whittle
The Alfreton teenager had a superb Games and ended up securing four medals in the swimming pool thanks to some outstanding relay performances. Jacob won a remarkable gold medal in the men's 4x100m medley relay where England pipped favourites Australia to the title. Whittle also won silver medals in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay, men's 4x200m freestyle relay and in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay. In his sole individual event, Jacob reached the final of the men's 100m freestyle event and finished in sixth place. To have achieved all this at the age of just 17 is remarkable and further underlines how bright a future Whittle has. Whittle could well become a household name in a few years time.
Abbie Wood
The Buxton swimmer won an incredible five medals in Birmingham with two silvers and three bronzes. Abbie won silver medals in the women's 4x100m freestyle relay and mixed 4x100m freestyle relay events. Her bronze medals came in the women's 200m individual medley, women's 4x200m freestyle relay and in the mixed 4x100m medley relay finals. Abbie also reached the final of the women's 200m breaststroke event but withdrew from this event before the day of the final. Like Jacob Whittle, Wood's performances in Birmingham have further underlined just how much potential she has. Abbie is still only 23 years old and could well become a huge name following the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and is most definitely a name to look out for.
Sarah Vasey
Derby's Sarah Vasey had a disappointing Games and only reached the semi-finals in both of her events: the women's 50m breaststroke and women's 100m breaststroke events.
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