Despair to delight for Wales' golden girl Evans

From despair to delight.

What a week it has been for Wales' gymnastics golden girl Ruby Evans.

The 19-year-old left Glasgow International Arena in tears on Sunday evening following the disappointment of the individual all-around competition.

Evans finished sixth. She and many others expected more.

Fast forward two days and there were tears of joy as she dazzled to become Wales' first winner of these Commonwealth Games with victory in the floor final.

It has been quite the couple of years for the Cardiff gymnast. This will have been close to the pinnacle.

She delivered when it mattered and under intense pressure, just days after one of her lowest moments, to create history by becoming the first Welsh woman to win an artistic gymnastics Commonwealth Games gold.

It has been a 14-year journey to this point.

Evans started gymnastics at the age of five at her local leisure centre in Cardiff with her parents wanting to utilise her energy.

"She used to somersault off the window sills," said mother Leanne, while father Chris admitted they "still did not know anything about gymnastics".

Evans was part of the British team that finished fourth at the Paris Olympics in 2024 - and was the youngest member of the Team GB squad at 17.

In 2025, she won a silver medal on the floor at the World Championships in Jakarta.

As well as her sporting success, she is also popular on social media with more than 117,000 Instagram followers.

So Evans was one of the most recognisable faces in the Team Wales squad coming to Glasgow and under pressure to deliver success, although she was not comfortable with the poster girl image.

"I struggled a bit in camp," admitted Evans. "It was like, 'Ruby Evans, Ruby Evans', so I knew there was a bit of pressure on me.

"You have to block it out as best as you can. I think I did do that."

It has been quite a week for Evans and Welsh gymnastics in general with drama, disappointment and delight in equal measures.

She was part of the Wales women's team that just missed out on a medal in the team event.

The quintet had been part of the second rotation and led the competition before the final four teams performed.

The television cameras kept panning to the Wales team in the crowd, who could only sit and wait to see if they had won a medal, before they were denied a bronze by England.

Then Evans, alongside Emily Roper, went for individual all-around glory.

She was second after two of the four disciplines before she had a terrible beam routine, which included a faltering start and falling off halfway.

That dropped her to seventh and only a miracle on the floor would see her rise back to the top three.

Evans ended up sixth. It left her distraught and you hoped that would not be the defining image of her Games.

She pulled out of the uneven bars on Monday as she rested a shoulder injury.

"I just watched the competition, had some food and chilled and watched the Love Island final," said Evans.

She watched the 20-year-old Roper identical twins provide one of Wales' stories of Glasgow so far in winning bronze medals within a couple of hours of each other.

Abigail beat Emily to the the third podium position in the vault. Emily brushed aside the disappointment of finishing fourth to return to claim bronze in the uneven bars, with the iconic image of her sister cheering her from the stands.

A first Welsh women's vault for 32 years, a first bars medal in history. And immense exposure for the 20-year-old twins they never expected, with numerous interview requests for them and their parents from around the world.

The focus switched to Evans on the final day of competition with two chances of medals.

The watching Wales supporters included chef de mission Gethin Jones and Team Wales captain Olivia Breen, the Para-sprinter who won silver on Monday night.

First it was the beam. The nemesis from the all-around individual final.

Evans came out to a big roar and produced the trademark dragons symbol of the Welsh team before bursting out laughing. She seemed relaxed. A welcome sign.

It was a much more solid performance as she finished seventh. An expected result.

This was just the warm-up before the main event an hour later when the floor competition began.

The word had come that the outfit would not be just the traditional red, white and green of Wales but something sparkly and it did not disappoint.

Evans was the final one of the eight competitors to perform. Would it be a case of saving the best until last?

England's Abigail Martin was first and set the standard. Six others tried and failed to topple her.

Then it was the turn of Evans as her golden costume almost blended into the floor.

There was a hush as she delivered one of the most impressive performances of her short, but glittering, career so far.

Evans stated how she used anger as motivation in her signature discipline. It worked.

"I feel like I perform better when I have a bit of fire in me," she said.

"It's like a completely different feeling. I went out there like my dragon was absolutely firing."

But was it enough? Nobody was quite sure. The Roper twins were pictured on the big screen cheering. They, like everybody in the Welsh pockets of the stands, hoped so.

The wait was agonising. Finally the verdict was in. Wales had its first gold medal.

Evans could not quite believe it.

The round of interviews soon followed, then came the national anthem Wales had been waiting five days of competition for.

The Welsh gymnastics fraternity were still in the building and you could hear their whooping and cheering as Ruby showed off her medal.

Evans was rushed off to Team Wales house to celebrate with family and friends. Playing tenpin bowling there was on the agenda for celebration plans.

"I feel relieved it's done," she added. "I can just chill out and know I did something.

"It's a good feeling and I feel so calm. I'm so chill. My feelings have been everywhere for the past two weeks.

"Now I can just feel nothing. I'm just happy to feel nothing."

What a week for Ruby Evans. One she will never forget.