Weightlifter Jenly Tegu Wini heads the Solomon Islands' 19-strong team for the Commonwealth Games team in Birmingham.

The contingent, covering eight sports, is the largest the Solomons has ever sent to the Games.

The athletes will compete in aquatics, athletics, beach volleyball, boxing, judo, table tennis, triathlon and weightlifting.

Two-time Olympian Tegu Wini won the nation's first-ever Commonwealth Games medal in 2018 - a bronze in the women's 58kg.

At the recent Pacific Mini Games in the Northern Marianas she won three gold medals in the 55kg category.

Former Olympic sprinter Francis Manioru is the Chef de Mission for the Games which start on July 28.

"The Commonwealth Games is one of the biggest sporting events in the world," Manioru told the insidethegames website

"And as a member of the Commonwealth family, the Games means a lot to the athletes and the people of Solomon Islands."

Improvements at the Solomon Islands Sports Institute are said to have boosted their prospects greatly, as weightlifters were previously forced to train in a rundown building.