Return: Adam Peaty has shaken off an injury to feature in Birmingham
(Picture: Getty Images)A record-breaking Commonwealth Games is set to begin on Friday, with more than 6,000 athletes taking part.
Here are five stars expected to thrill at Birmingham 2022...
Helen Housby (Netball)
Housby was the heroine of the England netball team as she scored the last-ditch goal that won her and her team-mates Commonwealth gold against runaway favourites Australia four years ago. She will be integral to the team’s title defence.
Laura Kenny (Cycling)
The five-time Olympic gold medallist nearly walked away from the sport altogether last year after suffering a miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy but is back in action, going for gold in three events.
Jake Wightman (Athletics)
Scotland’s golden boy of British track and field is competing again, having stunned himself and the rest of the field as he held off Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen to win 1500m gold at the World Championships.
Geraint Thomas (Cycling)
At 36, Thomas’s pro team, Ineos Grenadiers, were unsure whether to offer him a new contract. They did, and he finished third at the Tour de France. Now he’s back at the Games, representing Wales.
Adam Peaty (Swimming)
While doing a lunge in the gym at a training camp in Tenerife, Peaty turned his foot awkwardly and fractured his foot. It ruled him out of the World Championships but he returns in Birmingham.
