Sport in Wales played at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, but after no Welsh players were selected for the team they decided to leave the Great Britain team to allow their players greater international exposure. Wales has a strong connection with the sport of boxing, particularly in the South Wales Valleys, with fighters such as Tommy Farr, Freddie Welsh, Jimmy Wilde, Dai Dower and Johnny Owen all competing at the highest level. Joe Calzaghe, born to a Welsh mother and Italian father and raised in Newbridge, retired in 2009 as an unbeaten world champion. Other former world champions include Enzo Maccarinelli, Gavin
Theo Walcott Germany, with Walcott thus earning a silver medal as a runner-up. On 6 September 2008, Walcott made his first competitive start in a World Cup qualifier against Andorra, and in the following match against Croatia on 10 September he opened his senior international goals tally and became the youngest player in history to score a hat-trick for England. In doing so, Walcott also became the first England player to score a hat-trick in a competitive match since Michael Owen in 2001. Walcott returned to the international fold on 3 March 2010 in a friendly against Egypt. It was his first