Blackwood’s Taekwondo champion Lauren Williams has pocketed £52,000 in prize money after winning her division at the World Grand Slam held in Wuxi, China.
The two-time European champion defeated Turkey’s Nur Tatar Askari in the final of the -67kg division on Sunday, December 16.
Williams outclassed reigning world champion and double Olympic medallist, Tatar, to take the title.
“I wanted this so badly,” said the twice former world junior champion. “No one but my family and friends knew how much I wanted it.
“I’ve done it for them all back home and I feel on top of the world. There was no stopping me getting that gold.
“So, I went out there and stuck to my plan perfectly and I managed to pull it off.”
Speaking before the competition she had told BBC Wales she would help her parents if successful.
She said: “I have always wanted to help them and that money would go to them before myself.
“It’s an incentive but we go there to have fun, put on a spectacle and, if I won, I would seriously consider paying off my parents’ mortgage.”
The latest win caps a year to remember for the 19-year-old. Williams won bronze and silver at the first two World Taekwondo Grand Prix events of the year, before securing her first title in Manchester in October.