SM
Southampton vs. West Brom: 59 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
Collect News Data

Lauren Price dedicates gold to grandparents who helped her realise Olympic dream

:Headline: Lauren Price dedicates gold to grandparents who helped her realise Olympic dream:
Lauren Price triumphed in the women's middleweight boxing final.
Sports Mole

Lauren Price realised a childhood dream of becoming Olympic champion after a nerveless display in the women's middleweight final before dedicating the gold medal to her grandparents.

Price was inspired by watching Dame Kelly Holmes storm to victory in both the women's 800 metres and 1500m at Athens 2004 and the 27-year-old from Wales now has her own gold following a unanimous decision win over Li Qian.

After receiving the medal, she looked skywards in remembrance of her grandfather Derek, who alongside Linda took Price in and raised her from the age of three, the pair helping their grandchild realise her sporting ambitions.

She has more than 50 caps for Wales' football team and is a former world kickboxing champion, but she decided ahead of the 2014 Commonwealth Games that boxing was where her heart lay, and she celebrated a career-high on Sunday.

Lauren Price, left, outclassed Li Qian on Sunday (Adam Davy/PA)

"It's just a dream come true," she said. "It's been a dream of mine since I watched Kelly Holmes win that gold. I didn't know how I was going to get it and what sport I was going to do it in.

"I can't really put into words what it means to me. I'm just over the moon. When the decision came, I looked up to (Derek), he was a massive part of my life and if it wasn't for him and my nan I wouldn't have achieved anything.

"They've always supported me 100 per cent and I always said I'd win an Olympic medal and speaking to my nan before I came out here, I said I was going to get that gold and bring it back to her.

"I can't thank them enough, they've always encouraged me and spent thousands of pounds on me over the years to send me away to tournaments. This is for them. I can't wait to get back now, see her and share this medal with her."

Price has been in regular contact with her grandmother throughout the Olympics and revealed she was given a special message on the eve of her bout against Li.

“I can't really put into words what it means to me. I'm just over the moon”
- Lauren Price

"I spoke to her on FaceTime (on Saturday) night and then when I woke up in the morning, I had another message," said Price, the first Welsh boxer to win Olympic gold.

"She always says to me, reach for the moon, if I fall short I land on the stars. That's always in the message, and it was just how far I've come, the journey I've been on and how proud she is of me. It was inspirational."

Price had been stretched to her limit in Friday's semi-final against Nouchka Fontijn, edging out her Dutch rival on a wafer-thin split decision. She prevailed on just one of the five judges' scorecards, but two scored the fight a draw and subsequently picked Price as their preferred winner.

There was no such drama on the final day of the Games as she used superb lateral movement to confound Li, the 2018 world champion, getting in and out of range at will and controlling the tempo throughout.

Four scores of 30-27 and one of 29-28 went in Price's favour at the Kokugikan Arena as the 2019 world champion claimed Great Britain's 22nd and final gold of Tokyo 2020, cementing fourth spot in the medal table.

"Going into this, obviously I was the favourite, being world champion and all that, but in the Olympic Games anything can happen on the day," added Price.

"I knew I was up against a very good girl, a previous world champion, but I knew that if I was on my A-game then I'd be alright.

"You know what nerves are like, especially going into the Olympic final, but I thought I was cool, calm and collected and I was really pleased with my performance as well."

As for what's next, she said: "I'm just going to go back, have some time off and relax, go on holiday. It's only three years until the Paris Olympics so I may as well tick one of them boxes and do it again."

But as for whether she will take up another sport, she added: "I'm pretty good at this one so I think I'll stick to this one."

body check tags ::

amp_article__458614 : Collect and Make Data not in DataBase  : 
last updated article - 2021-08-08 11:26:44:
html db last update - 2021-08-08 11:23:07 :

ex - 7200 : read : write cache and make html

Click here for more stories about Lauren Price

Share this article now:
JK
Read Next:
Last day at the Games: Jason Kenny and Lauren Price end Olympics in golden glory
>


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!
Read more about Lauren Price Boxing
Follow @SportsMole for the latest breaking news stories, and follow @sm_headlines to get every headline from Sports Mole
Recommended Next on SM
Last day at the Games: Jason Kenny and Lauren Price end Olympics in golden glory
'I will be the next Liverpool manager' - Slot confirms Anfield move
Virgin Bet Bonus Code: Here's how to Sign Up & Claim

Page options

Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City37277393336088
2Arsenal37275589286186
3Liverpool372310484414379
4Aston Villa37208976562068
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs371961271611063
6Chelsea371791175621360
7Newcastle UnitedNewcastle371761481602157
8Manchester UnitedMan Utd37176145558-357
9West Ham UnitedWest Ham371410135971-1252
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton371212135560-548
11Bournemouth37139155365-1248
12Crystal Palace371210155258-646
13Wolverhampton WanderersWolves37137175063-1346
14Fulham37128175159-844
15Everton37139153949-1040
16Brentford37109185461-739
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3789204766-1929
18Luton TownLuton3768235081-3126
RBurnley3759234076-3624
RSheffield UnitedSheff Utd37372735101-6616
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

history www

Arsenal's Ramsdale 'agrees move to Premier League rivals'

NEW

1

AR

Preview: Brighton vs. Man Utd - prediction, team news, lineups

2

PB

Premier League gameweek 38: Confirmed team news and manager quotes for every club

3

PL

Preview: Man City vs. West Ham - prediction, team news, lineups

NEW

4

PM

Preview: Brentford vs. Newcastle - prediction, team news, lineups

5

PB

'I will be the next Liverpool manager' - Slot confirms Anfield move

6

'W

How Man City could line up against West Ham

NEW

7

HM

Tottenham 'open talks over move for £60m-rated attacker'

8

T'

Preview: Roma vs. Genoa - prediction, team news, lineups

9

PR

Preview: Crystal Palace vs. Aston Villa - prediction, team news, lineups

10

PC


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .