Four Coventry University Sports Scholarship Alumni represented their respective countries on the international stage at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Scholarship Alumni Emma Reid, Jamal Petgrave and Wesley Greenidge, all represented Team England in Judo, while Clayton Bell competed for Jamaica in Gymnastics.
The Commonwealth Games take place every four years, involving athletes from the majority of former territories of the British Empire.
The 23rd edition of the Games took place in Glasgow between 23 July and 2 August.
Clayton Bell was the first Cov Uni scholar representative to compete for Jamaica in Gymnastics All Around and the Vault over the first few days of the Games, reaching the finals in both disciplines.
Clayton placed 6th in the Vault, in a very competitive field of international athletes.
There was no time to rest for Clayton, who has since flown out to the Dominican Republic to represent his nation at the Central American and Caribbean Championships, again qualifying for the finals in each event.
Our three judo athletes had to wait until the final weekend of the Games, competing from Friday 31 July to Sunday 2 August.
Reigning Commonwealth Games champion and four-time British Champion, Jamal Petgrave, was the first of our graduate Judoka to take the mat on the Saturday, hoping to retain his -90kg Gold medal from Birmingham 2022.
Jamal made it through the first round of 16, but after a narrow quarter-final defeat to Danny Vojnikovich (AUS), dropped into the repechage (second-chance bracket).
Jamal then progressed and added to his medal haul with an impressive performance, beating Noah Wallis (NZL) in the bronze medal match.
The next of our graduates to enter the arena was three-time British Champion, Wesley Greenidge, who was paired with judoka Gregor Miller (SCO) in the +100kg round of 16.
Despite Wesley dominating the opening exchanges of the home nations heavyweight clash, his opponent delivered a huge throw for ippon (highest referee score) to win the contest in front of a lively home crowd.
On the final day of competition, Olympian and Commonwealth reigning champion, Emma Reid, was looking to retain her -78kg gold medal from Birmingham 2022.
Emma faced a tough challenge in the quarter-final against Ishroop Narang (IND). After taking a waza-ari (half-point) lead, she confirmed the win with an ippon in the closing stages.
The semi-final proved to be a more comfortable victory with Emma controlling the contest against Zanet Michaelidou (CYP) and progressing to the final, where she faced Maria Swan (AUS)
Despite Maria taking an early yuko (reinstated low-level score) lead, Emma's experience, patience and composure proved vital to produce an ippon and successfully retain her Commonwealth title.
Tom Shakespeare, SU Sports Scholarship Performance Manager, said: "We are extremely proud of Clayton, Jamal, Wesley and Emma and would like to congratulate them on these inspiring achievements, representing their nations on the world stage.
“It was amazing to work with and support them all during their time at Coventry and now fantastic to see them realising their potential competing at the highest levels of their sports."
Hear more about the sports scholarship programme and apply for places in 2026/27 or contact Tom at sportingexcellence.ss@coventry.ac.uk.