Gold-medallist Lauren Price made MBE in New Year’s Honours

Olympic gold-medallist Lauren Price has been made an MBE in the New Year’s Honours list to cap off a remarkable 2021.

Middleweight boxer Price, from Ystrad Mynach, won gold at the Tokyo Olympics and was later crowned BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year.

After returning to Ystrad Mynach following her Olympic success in Tokyo, Price, 27, was given a rapturous welcome by residents, who lined the streets waving Welsh flags.

A phone box on Penallta Road was also painted gold to celebrate Price’s achievements.

In September, Price and fellow Olympic medallist Lauren Williams, from Blackwood, were paraded through Ystrad Mynach and Williams’ hometown of Blackwood, while crowns adorned the streets.

Both Price and Williams were also enrolled onto a new Wall of Fame at Ystrad Mynach’s Centre for Sporting Excellence, and were later granted the Freedom of Caerphilly County Borough.

Price, a former pupil at Heolddu Comprehensive in Bargoed, also won the National Lottery’s Olympian of the Year Award.

Before going into boxing full-time, Price played football for Cardiff City and won 52 caps for Wales. She also became world kickboxing champion aged 12, but switched from kickboxing to boxing aged 16.

Since deciding to concentrate fully on boxing, the former-taxi driver has been crowned European, World and Olympic champion. Price has announced she intends to turn professional in 2022.

How Price won gold

Price won Olympic gold after a comprehensive 5-0 victory over China’s Li Qian in the women’s middleweight final on August 8.

Price marked her Olympic debut on July 28 with a 5-0 win over Mongolia’s Myagmarjargal Munkhbat in the last 16, before beating Panama’s Atheyna Bylon 5-0 on Saturday, July 31 to reach the semi-finals.

At the semi-final stage, she beat Nouchka Fontijn, of the Netherlands, on a split decision to reach the final.

Price became just the second British female boxer to win Olympic gold, after Nicola Adams’ triumphs at London 2012 and Rio 2016.

She dedicated her victory to her grandmother Linda and late grandfather Derek, who passed away in November 2020.

When Price was just three-days-old, she was taken in by her grandparents, who raised her and supported her lofty sporting ambitions.

Speaking after receiving her National Lottery award in October, Price said: “I don’t know where I would have been without the support of my grandparents.”