Para-athlete Olivia Breen is named Welsh Sports Personality of 2022

Para-athlete Olivia Breen was today named BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year for 2022.

Olivia won gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham for T37/38 100m making her the first woman to win a track gold for Wales at the Commonwealth Games in 32 years. She also won T38 long jump gold at the World Para Championships in 2017 and again in the long jump at the Commonwealth Games in 2018.

She famously fought back tears after standing on the winners podium at the Commonwealth Games as the Welsh National Anthem was played.

On receiving the award, Olivia Breen said: “I’m shocked. I didn’t expect to win [the award]… this is a massive honour with such strong performances in Welsh sport.

Being part of the team was just amazing and being a team captain [in athletics] with Osian Jones was a real special moment for me. At Team Wales everyone was so supportive, we supported one another and also after Covid, it makes you appreciate life and having a crowd as well.”

The award – that was decided by a panel – was chaired by Welsh Rugby Union performance director Nigel Walker, and consisting of Paralympic great Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Leshia Hawkins the Cricket Wales chief executive, former Wales footballer and netball player Nia Jones and Sport Wales’ Owen Lewis.

Olivia now joins a long list of Welsh sporting royalty to have won the award. Previous winners include middleweight boxing champion Lauren Price, Wales rugby captain Alun Wyn Jones, Olympic gold medallist Jade Jones, Paralympic gold medallist Tanni Grey-Thompson, boxer Joe Calzaghe and Wales footballer Gareth Bale.