The Welsh athletes counting down to Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games

• Two throwers Jac Lloyd Palmer and Harrison Walsh talk about their preparations for the Commonwealth Games 2022.

Excitement is building amongst Welsh athletes with just six months to go until the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The event will take place in Birmingham at the end of July and is set to be the first multi-sport competition in front of full capacity crowds since the onset of the pandemic.

Birmingham 2022 will see 14 venues across the region and will feature 19 sports and eight parasports - making it the biggest in the Games' history. 

Jac Lloyd Palmer and Harrison Walsh are two athletes hoping to impress on the global stage whilst representing their home country.

Hammer thrower Palmer, who grew up in Caerphilly, says his preparations are going well.

"I've been doing a lot of good lifting work. I'm lucky to have this facility in Cardiff to be able to put in the work, so 100 throws a week at the moment so some decent volume."

Palmer will be hoping to replicate his best performance in Birmingham, which currently stands at 70.01 metres.

"Especially in athletics, this is the only opportunity you get to compete on a global scale for Wales. And the idea that your friends, family, or people that have seen you come through school and athletics, have the potential to be there - it's just incredible."

Para-athlete Harrison Walsh will also be aiming to impress, after suffering an injury shortly before competition at the Paralympics in Tokyo last year.

Walsh, who competes in the F44 discus discipline, damaged his ankle whilst training in Japan but he says the experience has only made him stronger.

"I've been rehabbing since injury in Tokyo but I've got to a point now where I'm throwing better than I was before and the trend is just going well."

The former Wales and Ospreys rugby player suffered a career-ending injury on the pitch in 2015, severely damaging the ligaments and muscles in his leg. He now has little feeling and movement in his right foot.

"Parasport just kind of came out of nowhere and when I first picked up the discus, I was terrible. But I kind of worked my way through and eventually qualified for the European Championships last year and won a bronze. And then I qualified for my first Paralympic Games."

Walsh says competing in front of a home crowd and his family and friends will be a highlight for him in Birmingham.

"To have my family there, because with Tokyo and Europeans they couldn't be there, that's my first major competition and it'll be brilliant to have them watching me. I can't wait for them to be in the stands cheering me on.

"Whatever happens there, I just want to be present and enjoy that time. Being there with the crowd watching - that's the main thing and then whatever happens from there is just the cherry on top."

Selection for Team Wales will be announced in June, the month before the Games begin.

Work is well underway in Birmingham, with plans to boost capacity to 30,000 spectators at the home of British Athletics - the Alexander Stadium. A brand new aquatics centre is also nearing completion.

A million tickets have been sold, with some available for events like women's cricket and the rugby sevens.

The organisers say, with pandemic restrictions easing, they are hoping to attract thousands of international spectators in July and early August.