THE PRICE IS RIGHT!
LAUREN DELIVERS MASTERCLASS IN THE RING TO CLAIM GB’S 22nd TOKYO GOLD
NO messing around, no missing, either. Lauren Price brought a golden curtain down on Team GB’s trip to the Tokyo Olympics yesterday with a meticulous and marvellous stroll through the biggest fight of her astonishing life.
Or perhaps that should be limited to the conquests of her sporting career, for this is a woman who was given up at three days old by her parents and has since risen as an adult of spectacular and diverse talents.
That she has hit the crescendo of a gold medal is no enormous surprise, because she was the top seed for the middleweights and the most hyped member of Rob McCracken’s programme.
But the manner of it? The sheer scale of the victory? That was special. She was in with a former world champion, China’s Li Qian, and this was a procession. Punch perfect, almost. If she received a meaningful strike across nine minutes, then it would require half a dozen slow-motion replays from two dozen angles to spot it.
By the time it was all over, and before the final scores were confirmed, the only mystery was how one of the five judges had scored the second round to Li. The rest gave every session to Price, for a 5-0 win, or 14-1 if you want to break it down further.
It was near-total domination from a polymath whose c.v. covers international football for Wales, world titles at kickboxing, a stint driving a cab and now an Olympic gold medal.
Afterwards, Price looked to the rafters of a grand building ordinarily used for sumo wrestling, and thanked her late grandfather Derek, who along with her grandmother Linda took her in as a baby in Caerphilly and put her on this path. Derek passed away last year but Linda remains a daily inspiration.
‘When the decision came I had a little look up to him,’ the 27-year-old said, with gold hanging from her neck. ‘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 always supported me 100 per cent and I said to my nan I was going to bring gold back to her.
‘All I was thinking about last night is that she lives next to a
post office so now i have a gold post box next to the house. every time she opens the blinds she will see that and have the memory of this.
‘i spoke to her on FaceTime last night and every time i wake up here i have a message from her. This morning, before the final, it was about me dreaming of this as a little girl.
‘she always says to me if i reach for the stars, if i fall short i might land on the moon, and that is how far i have come.’
Price has never been one for outward shows of emotion, but that last part almost pushed her over the edge. as she was talking, her team-mate, the bronze medallist Frazer Clarke, stopped by and made the point that Price had fought her final like a Cuban. in amateur boxing there is no finer praise, and it was not misplaced.
her movement against li was flawless. li had not dropped a round on her way to the final but here she was totally outclassed against the reigning world champion, whose feet kept her out of range and then, in a flash, would bring her close enough to counter.
That was the pattern throughout — step out of trouble, step in and cause mayhem with clusters of two or three shots, step out again.
it wasn’t an all-action scrap, but it was the textbook definition of a masterclass.
‘it’s been my dream since i was eight and watching Kelly holmes win gold,’ Price said. ‘i didn’t know what sport it was going to be but the dream was to get to the olympics and gold is the icing on the cake.’
likewise for mcCracken’s team. They brought 11 fighters to Tokyo and left with two golds, two silvers and two bronzes. They talk a lot about pound-for-pound value in boxing — and that return isn’t too shabby at all.