How Team Wales star Emily Roper bounced back from losing medal to twin sister Abigail to make her own Commonwealth Games history
By Leon Imber
Updated 27/07/2026 at 22:31 GMT+1
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Twins Abigail and Emily Roper won bronze medals within hours of one another in a remarkable and extraordinary piece of Team Wales artistic gymnastics history at the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games on Monday.
Watch as Abigail Roper pips her twin sister to bronze on the vault
Video credit: TNT Sports
In the morning, Abigail secured third place in the women's vault, narrowly beating her twin sister, who finished fourth, by a margin of just 0.15 in the scoring.
However, Emily bounced back from the disappointment and took a podium spot of her own, on the uneven bars.
They were a part of the Wales team who fell just short of a medal in Saturday's team event, and Emily told TNT Sports of her delight at her performance.
"I’m just really glad I managed to deliver the best routine of my life really," she said. "Obviously disappointed coming from vault, finishing fourth, but I managed to bounce back, lock in, and I just knew what I could do, and delivered it."
The pair both study Sport and Exercise Science at The University of Essex, and Emily said they are "very competitive", which spurred her on even further after being beaten to the vault medal by her sister.
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'Ecstasy and relief combining' - Watch as Emily Roper joins twin sister Abigail among the medals
Video credit: TNT Sports
Emily said: "Seeing her get a medal, I was a bit disappointed but also very proud of her for doing that because she’s worked so hard on vault, that’s her thing. She could have her moment.
"But I knew that bars, I was capable of delivering a good routine and challenging these amazing girls. So yeah, really happy."
The 20-year-olds contributed to Team Wales' tally of six medals at the Games so far on a strong Monday for the home nations at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
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And it continued a strong year for the pair, who also ended up on the podium together at the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Gymnastics Championships in February.
Emily said the hard work will continue for the remainder of the year.
"Working hard for the rest of the year, World Champs next, so yeah, need to dig deep for that," she said.
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