Since it is St. David’s Day, I thought it would be best to look back at some of the great Welsh sporting moments of the past year.

Geraint Thomas

Geraint Thomas enjoyed a fantastic 2018 with a Tour de France win. A time of 83 hours 17’13” was enough to secure victory. He was the First Welshman to win the event.

As a result of his successful year he was also awarded with BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award.

Cardiff Devils

The Cardiff Devils had success of their own. They won the Elite Ice Hockey League for only their second time. The Devils in fact defended their title from the previous season.

The Devils were awarded the BBC Sport wales Team of the Year awarded in early December to congratulate them on their success. Not only did they win their league back to back, but they had also won this award last year to.

Gareth Bale

Bale enjoyed success with Real Madrid in 2018, coming on as a substitute in the 3-1 victory to win the Champions League. In that game, Gareth bale scored two amazing goals after coming off the bench. He scored a bicycle kick and long-range effort to win the match. He was awarded Man of the Match in the game and was also the first player to score twice in the Champions league final after being substituted on.

For Wales, he became the all-time top-scorer after overtaking Ian Rush’s 28. He bagged his first international hat-trick against China which also broke the record.

Cardiff City

The Bluebirds got promoted after finishing second in the 2017-18 Championship season. Cardiff City replaced rivals Swansea in the Premier League but had also maintained a spot for a welsh club to play in the top of the English pyramid.

Newport County

Newport County had been the feel-good factor of the FA Cup in 18/19 season. Starting off against smaller teams, Newport County enjoyed wins over Met Police and Wrexham before facing what could only be described as mission impossible.

First, they faced Leicester City, they took on the previous premier league winners and won 2-1 at Rodney Parade. After that they then took Middlesbrough to a replay in the next round where again they won at Rodney Parade, this time 2-0.

The last task they faced was the hardest they had. Manchester City in the 5th round. Losing 4-1, the team still showed huge amount of passion and determination. They picked up a lot of support across the UK for their successful run.

Mark Williams

Mark Williams had a year to remember as he not only won the World Snooker Championship in May but the World Open in August.

It was a very successful year indeed for the Welshman, so much so that he was nominated for BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year.

Elinor Barker

Just one of the many stars in the Commonwealth team. However, Elinor Barker went even further to win individual competition away from the team. Elinor held off GB team-mates Katie Archibald and Neah Evans to win Gold for Wales.

Elinor also won the British National Madison Championships and the Women’s Scratch Race as a part of the UCI World Championships.

Cardiff Blues

The Cardiff Blues enjoyed European success in the form of the 2017-18 European Rugby Challenge Cup.

They topped their group consisting of Toulouse, Sale Sharks and Lyon. they only lost one game in that group.

The Blues then beat Edinburgh and Pau to reach the final before defeating Gloucester 31-30.

Commonwealth Games

As previously mentioned, the Commonwealth Games was a real success for Wales. They equalled their overall Medal best with 36 but earned 5 more Gold medals compared to their previous best in 2014.

James Ball was one of the stars picking up two silvers. Olivia Breen picked up a Gold and Bronze medal for Athletics. Georgia Davies also played a big part with two Bronze medals in swimming.

Wales Women’s National Football Team

The Women’s Welsh football side narrowly missed out on qualifying for the World Cup but in the process made huge strides in establishing themselves as a difficult team to face. They reached an all-time high ranking of 29th which they still hold.