The 2022 Commonwealth Games gets underway on the 28th of July in Birmingham, with over 5000 athletes from 72 countries set to compete in 280 events across 20 sports. The 2022 Commonwealth Games will be littered with global superstars, Olympic champions, world record holders and other legends of the game, and here are five overseas athletes to watch out for in Birmingham 2022.
1. Emma Mckeon (Australia) – Swimming
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No athlete won more medals at the 2020 Olympic Games than Australian swimmer Emma Mckeon with the 28-year-old clinching seven medals – four golds and three bronze – in Tokyo, as well as setting one world record and three Olympic records. Mckeon has already bagged eight golds and four bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games, and the Olympic champion could overtake Ian Thorpe and Susie O’Neill (10 golds) as the most decorated Australian athlete at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Mckeon will be competing in four individual events in 2022 – 50m and 100m freestyle and butterfly – and she could also be involved in five different relay teams.
2. Alyssa Healy (Australia) – Cricket
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Women’s cricket makes its debut at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 at Birmingham, and team Australia are the major favourites to continue their global dominance in the sport and take the gold medal. From Elyse Perry to Beth Mooney, the Australian women’s cricket team is filled with superstars, but the one player to watch out for at Edgbaston is Alyssa Healy.
The opener smashed an incredible 75 off 39 balls in the previous T20 World Cup final in Melbourne in 2020 and also lit up the world stage earlier this year by scoring 170 against England in the final of the ODI World Cup, winning the player of the tournament award in the process.
3. Andre De Grasse (Canada) – Athletics
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Six-time Olympic medallist Andre De Grasse will be making his first-ever appearance at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022, and the Canadian sprinter will be the favourite to grab the spotlight in the short-distance running events this summer. The reigning 200m Olympic champion has medalled in every single Olympic and World Championships he has participated in, and the 27-year-old is entering the Commonwealth Games after leading Canada to an unbelievable gold medal in the 4×100 relay, helping them beat the home favourites USA by 0.07 seconds.
4. Cody Simpson (Australia) – Swimming
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One of the biggest names competing at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham is pop star and singer Cody Simpson, who has switched careers and traded the mic and guitar for the swimming pool. The junior swimming sensation from Queensland returned to the water after his Hollywood hiatus in 2019 and qualified for the 2022 Commonwealth Games by finishing third in the Australian trials earlier this year. Simpson will participate in the 50m and 100m double for butterfly, and his time of 51.79 in the prelims of the trials was the eighth fastest time by an Australian male in history in the 100m butterfly.
5. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jamaica) – Athletics
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Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will renew her rivalry with countryman Elaine Thompson-Herah at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, who pipped her to gold in the 100m and 200m at the Olympics in Tokyo last year. The eight-time Olympic medallist searching is yet to win an individual gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, but the 35-year-old sprinter could break that duck in Birmingham after her incredible performance at the 2022 World Championships, where she won gold in the 100m and silvers in the 200m and 4×100 relay.
Shivaan Shah