ATHLETICS

Clara Evans has become Wales’ fastest female marathon runner of all time after smashing the Welsh record for the distance.

The Wales Commonwealth Games star set a new Welsh record of two hours, 25 minutes and four seconds at the Valencia Marathon on Sunday.

Evans, 30, – a member of Pontypridd Roadents club – broke the previous best of two hours, 26 minutes and 14 seconds set by Natasha Cockram last year by one minute and 10 seconds.

The run, which is under the Olympic qualifying standard, was more than four minutes quicker than Evans’ previous best mark, which was set earlier this year.

It also places her seventh on the UK all-time rankings – an impressive rise from a runner who has steadily improved from a decent club runner to the current best female marathon runner in the UK.

Evans finished ninth in the marathon at last year’s Commonwealth Games in a time of 2:38.03.

Her time in Spain was a massive 13 minutes better than her run in Birmingham only 16 months ago.

Ethiopia completed a podium sweep in the women’s race with Worknesh Degefa winning in 2:15:51 to go seventh on the world all-time list.

Degefa dropped Rio 2016 10,000m champion Almaz Ayana in the closing stages and finished some 30 seconds clear of her teammate.

Hiwot Gebrekidan was third, just inside 2:18, with the rest of the field outside 2:20.

 

TAEKWONDO

Jade Jones suffered a setback in her preparations for the Olympic Games in Tokyo next year where she will bid for a third taekwondo gold medal.

Wales hero Jones was beaten by fellow Briton Aaliyah Powell at the World Taekwondo Grand Prix Final in Manchester.

Powell managed to beat Jones, for the first time in her career, in a thrilling 2-1 quarter-final in front of their home crowd, before falling to 21-year-old Faith Dillon from the USA in the semifinals.

“Fighting Jade is never easy, but you know we are fighting to go to Paris, fighting to go to the Olympics and it’s good to be at the top level to show what next year can be,” said Powell.

“It’s been a long year for everyone, so it’s great getting a break and some rest. Next year is going to be a big year for everyone, an Olympic year. I am really looking forward and ahead to that.

Jones had previously survived a first-round scare against Maria Clara Pacheco of Brazil, before the home audience powered her to a comeback from 1-0 behind.

 

TABLE TENNIS

Anna Hursey continued her recent good form with a silver medal at the World Youth Table Tennis Championships in Germany.

Welsh Commonwealth games star Hursey earned a runners-up spot in the U19 Girls Doubles with partner Annett Kaufmann.

They reached the final but were defeated by the Chinese pair of Man Kuai and Yi Xu.