Wales' sporting year in pictures

Four Welshmen – captain Ryan Giggs (bottom third right), Craig Bellamy (top left), Joe Allen (bottom right) and Neil Taylor (bottom fourth right) - started for Great Britain’s football team in their opening match of the Olympic tournament against Senegal at Old Trafford

Holyhead’s Gareth Evans broke the Welsh clean and jerk record and equalled the Welsh snatch record in the weightlifter's first Olympic appearance

Rower Chris Bartley (right) celebrates winning an Olympic silver medal in the men's lightweight four with Team GB crew Peter Chambers, Rob Williams and Richard Chambers

Cyclist Geraint Thomas shows off his gold medal after defending his Olympic team pursuit title, becoming only the fourth Welsh Olympian to win multiple gold medals

Tom James (second from right) and his Great Britain coxless four crewmates stand proudly on the podium after receiving their Olympic gold medals at Eton Dorney

Jade Jones celebrates winning taekwondo under-57kg Olympic gold by beating China's Yuzhuo Hou

Sailor Hannah Mills (R) and partner Saskia Clark celebrate an Olympic silver medal in the 470 class, having also won the World Championships in Barcelona earlier in the year

Sarah Thomas (R) scores Team GB's third goal in a 3-1 hockey win against New Zealand, a victory that secured a bronze medal for Great Britain

Fred Evans (right) takes on Serik Sapiyev in the Olympic welterweight boxing final at London 2012 but had to settle for silver after losing 9-17 to the man from Kazakhstan

Welsh cyclist Mark Colbourne becomes Great Britain's first medal winner at the 2012 Paralympic Games by winner a silver medal in the C1-2-3 one kilometre sprint

Aled Sion Davies celebates after winning a bronze medal in the F42/44 shot put, becoming Great Britain's first medal winner at London 2012 in Paralympic track and field events

Claire Williams from Carmarthen celebrates her Paralympic bronze medal in the F11/12 discus

Jenny McLoughlin and Olivia Breen stand on the podium to collect their Paralympic bronze medals as part of Great Britain's T35-38 4x100m relay team

Liz Johnson on her way to Paralympic bronze in the SB6 100m breaststroke

Mark Colbourne starts the men's individual C1 time trial at Brands Hatch, in which he added silver to his Paralympic Games haul

Paul Davies tightens the material on his racket during his Paralympic bronze medal win againt South Korea's Chang Ho Lee in the men's singles table tennis C1

Mark Colbourne adds a Paralympic gold medal to his earlier silver by C1 3km individual pursuit, breaking the world record twice on his way to victory

Nyree Kindred sets a new Paralympic record in the S6 100m backstroke to qualify for the final, where she wins silver behind China's Lu Dong who set a world record

Leanda Cave, covered in traditional Hawaiian garlands, tops off a fine 2012 by adding the Ironman World Championship title to the Half-Ironman World Championship victory she claimed earlier in the year

Nathan Cleverly knocks down Shawn Hawk in Los Angeles to successfully defend his WBO light-heavyweight title

Gareth Bale is mobbed by his Wales team-mates after his two goals see them come from behind to beat Scotland in a World Cup qualifier in Cardiff

The Wales rugby union team celebrate winning the 2012 Six Nations and the Grand Slam after seeing off France in the final championship game in Cardiff