Liz Clay (athletics) is another Commonwealth Games debutant when she takes on the 100m hurdles in Birmingham. A keen dancer, Liz would go to watch her younger brother Harry run, eventually deciding to jump the fence at Hornsby Little Athletics to compete in the under 10s. Hurdling remains her speciality, although injuries have been a constant companion. Clay was selected for her international debut at the 2014 World Junior Championships, but broke a bone in her foot a week out and had to withdraw and other injuries have hampered some of her senior campaigns. She had a breakthrough season in 2020 after moving from Sydney to the Gold Coast to be coached Sharon Hannon who also guided Sally Pearson. She now sits second on the Australian 100m hurdles all-time list, only behind only the two-time Commonwealth Games, Olympic and world champion Pearson. Clay made an impressive Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2021 where she set a personal best of 12.71 seconds in the semi-finals, only to miss out on a spot in the final by four hundredths of a second.