Commonwealth Games medallist and coach Matt Elias fears the event has “lost its heart” because of the small number of athletes picked by the home nations.
Team Wales have announced 23 athletes for this year’s Commonwealth Games, which are being held in Birmingham.
The number of athletes selected has dropped significantly over the years.
“The Commonwealth Games has lost its heart, it used to be a beautiful balance of performance and development,” Elias said.
In 2002 in Manchester, the Welsh athletics team was made up of 34 athletes and that was one of Wales’ most successful Games.
Two decades on, the original team for the 2022 Games in Birmingham – which begin on 28 July – featured 17 athletes, although that number has increased to 23 after an appeal was made.
Elias, who competed in the 1998 and 2002 Commonwealth Games, is now a performance coach and works with athletes such as Hannah and Joe Brier.
Elias says restrictions on team sizes leave him with concerns for the next generation of athletes.
“Over the years the internet and the ability to attain information has greatly improved, so Sport Wales who run the Commonwealth Games selection, have the ability to track all of the information from every Games of what it takes to make a final in certain events,” he told BBC Sport Wales.
“This medal-hunt era of Olympic Games, where everything is about where are we in the medals table, has trickled down into the Commonwealth Games.
“There is no longer any feeling about trying to develop future potential athletes. If you are not at the level where you can make a top six now you, will not be selected. It is as simple as that.
“We are saying to our athletes that they have to be at Olympic final level to even make the Commonwealth Games team. It’s brutal and will potentially have very harmful, long-term, knock-on issues within the development of the sport.”
Sport Wales says it “does not place medal targets or expectations on Welsh athletes at the Commonwealth Games”.
Elias says he, along with fellow Olympians Jamie Baulch, Iwan Thomas, Christian Malcolm and Tim Benjamin, would not have reached the standards required to reach this year’s Commonwealth Games had they been required in 1998.
Marathon runner Andrew Davies hit the levels required to qualify for this year’s Commonwealth Games yet was not selected.
“It is disappointing to beat the standard by 1min, 10 secs and then still find out I wasn’t going, it was pretty gutting really,” said Davies.
He is not the only one to achieve the standard and not be selected.
“A goal and a standard was set for them. They have achieved that standard and they have not been selected. That to me is heartbreaking,” Elias added.
In a statement, Sport Wales said: “We want everyone in Wales to have the opportunity to enjoy taking part in sport. We want everyone to be able to achieve their potential in sport and to see the benefits of doing so transcend into wider life.
“For several years, we have promoted a holistic approach to athlete development through our work with the governing bodies of sport in Wales.
“This approach places the athlete at the centre of any development programme and ensures that their individual needs, in sport and beyond, lead the experiences provided.
“We believe that success on the world stage should be one of the consequences of excellent athlete development, but not the driver for it. In accordance with this, Sport Wales does not place medal targets or expectations on Welsh athletes at the Commonwealth Games.
“We recognise that there’s still a lot of work to be done in changing the thinking and practices across the sport system in Wales.
“Considerable focus and resource are being aligned to ensure that the sport system provides safe and supportive environments where athletes can thrive, as athletes and as people, enabling a lifelong enjoyment of sport and the development of wider life skills.”
