Boxing star Lauren wins Olympian of the Year award
WALES’ gold medal Olympic boxing champion, Lauren Price, has today added yet another accolade to her name after being crowned Olympian of the Year in the 2021 National Lottery Awards.
Following her exploits in Tokyo, Lauren, 27, returned to Pontypool Amateur Boxing Club, where her amazing trajectory towards Olympic stardom began. She was presented with the inaugural Olympian of the Year National Lottery Award by her grandmother, Linda Price – who Lauren hails (along with her late grandfather, Derek Price) as one of the biggest inspirations, influences, and supporters in her successful sporting career.
The National Lottery Awards celebrate the inspirational people and organisations across the UK who have done extraordinary things with National Lottery funding. Following this year’s Tokyo games, it was decided to dedicate the Olympian of the Year Award to an athlete who has gone above and beyond in their field and who has also benefited directly from National Lottery funding. Lauren was voted by the public as their National Lottery Olympian of the Year from a shortlist of athletes from across Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Lauren, from Ystrad Mynach, near Caerphilly, is among more than 1,000 elite athletes funded by The National Lottery through UK Sport’s World Class Programme. The programme allows athletes such as Lauren to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering technology, science and medical support.
Few Team GB athletes will be more multi-talented across different sports than Olympic champion Lauren – and her route to glory is wide-ranging, to say the least.
She showed a keen interest in several sports from a young age, most notably football, netball, taekwondo and kickboxing – winning European and British honours in kickboxing. She was scouted and subsequently played football for Cardiff City for several seasons, winning the Welsh Premier Women’s League in her first season. Lauren also captained her country at under-19 level, before being capped at senior level in June 2012.
But boxer Nicola Adams’ (another former National Lottery-funded athlete) gold medal win in the London 2012 Olympics inspired her to pursue her boxing and, in 2014, she left football to concentrate solely on the ring.
After picking up gold medals in the middleweight class at both the 2018 Commonwealth Games, the 2019 European Games and the 2019 World Championships, her decision to make the switch paid off with a place at Tokyo 2020. Her hunt for gold was not over yet, as she became the Olympic champion in Tokyo after defeating China’s Qian Li in the women’s middleweight final in her first-ever Olympics.
Lauren, who became Wales’ first female boxer to compete at the Olympics, was brought up by her grandparents, Derek and Linda, who took her in when she was three days old. They provided her with the love and foundation that allowed her to thrive they encouraged her love of sport, and without them, Lauren believes she wouldn’t be where she is today. Last year her grandad, Derek, sadly passed away from dementia before he could see her secure Olympic gold.
Delighted to receive the award from her nan, Lauren dedicated her latest accolade to her grandparents, who she says were her biggest supporters along her journey to Olympic stardom. She also thanked The National Lottery’s players for supporting her as an athlete.
“I am absolutely honoured and thrilled to be announced as the firstever recipient of the Olympian of the Year Award and I would like to thank all the members of the public who voted for me,” she said.
Presenting Lauren with her award, her grandmother, Linda Price, said: “I’m over the moon for her. She’s worked so hard all these years. I feel honoured and proud to present her with this award. ‘Reach for the moon and if you fall short, you’ll land on the stars’, is what I always told her.”