From Archer to Commonwealth medallist: Funmi Oduwaiye reflects on Glasgow silver

Former Cardiff Met Archers basketball player Funmi Oduwaiye has reflected on the hard work, sacrifices and support behind her silver medal-winning performance at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.

The Cardiff para-athlete secured silver for Wales in the women’s F44 discus throw, adding a first major senior medal to a sporting journey that began at Cardiff Met many years before her transition into para-athletics.

Oduwaiye joined Cardiff Met Archers at the age of 11 and spent more than a decade playing basketball with the club. She went on to represent Wales at junior international level, starring at the 2019 Under-18 European Championships in Moldova and earning recognition among the tournament’s leading players.

However, medical complications following leg surgery resulted in nerve damage to her right leg, bringing her promising basketball career to an end.

After being introduced to para-athletics through Disability Sport Wales in 2022, Oduwaiye began competing in the F64 shot put and discus. Just two years later, she made her Paralympic debut at Paris 2024, finishing eighth in the discus final.

Her silver medal in Glasgow represents another important milestone in a para-athletics career that is still only four years old.

“It feels amazing,” said Oduwaiye. “It’s nice to actually start bringing stuff home to show for it, really. To show my hard work and the work that my coach, my teammates and I have put in.

“It’s been pretty good.”

Although her sporting discipline has changed, Cardiff Met has remained a constant presence throughout Oduwaiye’s journey.

“I’ve been going to Cardiff Met since I was a kid for multiple different sports,” she explained. “It’s been a home ground and a safety ground for me in sport, so it’s been pretty cool.”

Her journey from junior international basketball to the Paralympic stage has demanded far more than physical training alone. Oduwaiye highlighted the mentality, lifestyle choices and personal sacrifices that sit behind every elite sporting performance.

“There are a lot of things that go into sport, not just performing and not just the training, but the whole mentality, the whole lifestyle and everything,” she said.

“The sacrifices that you make, the decisions that you make and the troubles that you’re already facing, trying to incorporate them all into this one career, it is hard.

“But it is worth it at the end, as you can see.”

Holding up her Commonwealth silver medal, Oduwaiye had visible proof of the resilience and determination that have defined her journey.

From growing up as a Cardiff Met Archer to representing Wales on the Commonwealth stage, her story demonstrates the power of sport to provide belonging, purpose and new opportunities, even when the original pathway changes.

With Paralympic experience already secured and a Commonwealth medal now added to her achievements, Oduwaiye’s journey in para-athletics is only beginning.