Wales won four cycling medals on day three of the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, with Emma Finucane claiming her third gold medal of the meet at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome. Anna Morris also won gold, while Jess Roberts and the tandem pair of James Ball and pilot Matthew Rotherham each took silver.
That took Wales’ cycling total to 10 medals — five golds, three silvers and two bronze — with eight of those podium finishes coming from Welsh women. Only Australia, whose population is nearly nine times larger, sit above them in the track cycling medal standings.
How did Finucane make history?
Emma Finucane became the first Welsh woman to win three gold medals at a single Commonwealth Games. The 1,000m time trial was making its debut at these Games and brought together a mix of sprinters and endurance riders for what was described as a halfway-house event.
Then came the rider from Carmarthen. Buoyed by the crowd, Finucane set the pace and recorded one minute 05.285 seconds, a time that secured at least a bronze medal with only two riders left to compete. Neither England's Sophie Capewell nor New Zealand's Olympic sprint champion Ellesse Andrews could match it.
“It was the unknown,” she said.
“I went into it not knowing what I could do because I'd never really done one before. I just had to hurt myself as much as I could, and I did.
“I'm not sure I'll be doing one of them again!”
Finucane’s achievement adds to a remarkable run that places her alongside only two other Welsh athletes at a single Games. Weightlifters David Morgan and Andy Phillips are the only others to match three golds in one Commonwealth Games, both doing so in Auckland in 1990.
She still has one more race to come. Finucane said she had arrived at the Games aiming for one gold medal and had not expected to win three.
“I came into these Games wanting to win a gold,” she said.
“To do it three times, I did not think would happen to me.
“I just can't believe I'm living this life at the moment. I've got one more event, so we'll just see what I can do.”
If Finucane wins Sunday’s women’s keirin, she will become the most successful Welsh woman in Commonwealth Games history, passing Para-athlete Olivia Breen’s title that had stood for two days.
What happened in the women’s points race?
Anna Morris, the sprinting star’s endurance counterpart in the Welsh squad, won gold in the women’s points race, with Jess Roberts joining her on the podium in silver. The result meant the Welsh anthem rang around the velodrome twice in one night.
Prince Louis also joined in the celebrations, wearing a bucket hat with “Beicio Cymru” — Welsh for Welsh Cycling — written on the front.
This time Morris had company beside her on the podium, with Roberts taking the next step up after a strong finish to the race. Morris said the moment was especially meaningful because of their close friendship and team-mate relationship.
“This one was super cool,” she said.
“We're team-mates and really close friends. We often room together, so to share that moment with her was just amazing.”
The qualified doctor won gold on Friday and thought she had won silver as well in the women’s scratch event before she was relegated to fifth for entering the sprinter’s lane when her opponent was already there. There was no similar setback on Saturday.
She controlled the race from start to finish to claim her second gold. Morris said the final sprint was demanding and felt like a blur.
“It felt like a hard race to be honest,
