Bodybuilder Flex is Llanelli Sportsperson of the Year

GLOBAL bodybuilding champion James ‘Flex’ Lewis has been voted the Brin Isaac Llanelli Sportsperson of the Year for 2018.

The 35-year-old, who is based in the United States, bettered Arnold Schwarzenegger’s record when he won his seventh successive Mr Olympia title in Las Vegas in September.

He becomes the first bodybuilder to win the prestigious award and follows Scarlets and Wales centre Jonathan Davies on the roll of honour.

Welsh judo champion Danielle Williams is the runner-up and will collect the Walter Hughes Cup.

Danielle has won a host of medals during national competitions in 2018 and attended British Olympic training camps in Rome and Malaga.

Llanelli Town AFC manager Andy Hill receives the W Jack Hughes Cup for coach of the year after guiding the Reds to the Welsh League division one title and back into the Welsh Premier League.

The Reds have enjoyed huge success under Hill’s stewardship, with the Stebonheath Park side rising through the league ladder as well as enjoying cup success on the way.

The junior sportsperson of the year and winner of the Star Cup is St John Lloyd’s cyclist Emma Finucane, who won a staggering five British junior titles this summer. She is also part of the junior British Olympic academy for sprint. Emma was runner-up in the junior section last year.

This year’s winner of the Stradey Centenary Cup is pistol shooter Lucy Thomas from Burry Port.

Lucy has won national titles at junior and senior level and has qualified for the junior world championships.

She has her sights set on the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020 and in Paris four years later.

Finally, the Kelly Evans Shield for services to sport has been awarded to town cricket stalwart John Prickett.

John has been an integral part of Dyfed Schools Cricket and has overseen the emergence of Test cricketer Simon Jones as well as a number of county players and age-grade internationals.

A former umpire, he is also secretary of the Welsh Schools Cricket Association.