Ynys Môn star athlete makes history after Commonwealth Games selection

Cari Hughes. Picture: Ynys Mon Island Games Association

Ynys Môn’s Cari Hughes has been called up to the Wales athletics team for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
The 27-year-old Llanfechell ace will be competing in the 3000m Steeplechase on Monday 27th July.
Cari will be the first ever Island Games competitor from Anglesey to also compete in the Commonwealth Games.
Last year, Cari attained a superb bronze, a new PB, and a Welsh national record in the women’s 3000m Steeplechase at the UK Athletics Championships in a time of 9:41.66.
It was the latest in a long line of successes for the Môn athlete.
A member of the Swansea Harriers, in 2017 she won the Welsh Schools and Welsh Junior title and represented Great Britain in the junior races at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships and European Cross-Country Championships.
The following year, she broke the Welsh Junior 1500m record, posting a new lifetime best of 4:17.51 at the BMC Stretford Grand Prix. That year she became the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) 1500m champion, running for Loughborough University. She won Junior Female Endurance Athlete of the Year at the 2018 Welsh Athletics Awards.
Cari won a bronze medal with the British U23 team at the 2021 European Cross Country Championships in Dublin. She was also a member of the British senior team at the 2022 European Cross Country Championships in Turin, placing 22nd individually.
Much closer to home, she won the 800 metres and finished second in the 1500 metres representing Ynys Môn at the 2023 Island Games in Guernsey.
She finished behind Megan Davies but ahead of 2020 Olympic Games finalist Alexandra Bell at the Armagh 5 km road race in February 2024.
In November 2024, she was the second British woman to finish the Cardiff Cross Challenge, part of the World Athletics Cross Country Tour, behind Kate Axford. She finished as runner-up to Axford at the Liverpool Cross Challenge on 23 November 2024, an event which doubled-up as the British trials for the Euro Cross Championships.
Cari was subsequently selected for the British team for the 2024 European Cross Country Championships in Antalya, Turkey.
On 2 August, 2025, she set a new Welsh record to finish third behind Elise Thorner and Sarah Tait in the 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2025 UK Athletics Championships in Birmingham in 9:41.66.
After a second-place finish the previous year, Cari won the 2025 Liverpool Cross Challenge to gain automatic selection for the 2025 European Cross Country Championships where the British team won the silver medal in the team event.

The Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games take place from 23 July to 2 August
A total of 114 athletes will compete across 10 sports, proudly representing Wales at the 23rd Commonwealth Games. The sports include:
Swimming and Para Swimming
Athletics and Para Athletics
Track Cycling and Para Track Cycling
Gymnastics
Bowls and Para Bowls
Judo
Boxing
Weightlifting
Netball
Wheelchair 3 x 3 Basketball
Of the 114 athletes selected, 22 are para-athletes, with a strong and balanced team comprising 66 female and 48 male competitors.