A teenager from Blackwood who won gold at an international taekwondo competition has said she is “overwhelmed” by her feat.
Lauren Williams, 17, was competing for Great Britain at the European Taekwondo Championships in Montreaux, Switzerland.
In only her second senior competition, Lauren managed to overcome the odds and win the gold medal with victory in her final on Saturday, May 21.
Just 24 hours after Welsh compatriot, Jade Jones, captured the 57kg title, Williams clinched the 67kg title by beating 2012 Olympic and 2015 World Championship silver medallist, Nur Tatar.
“I am overwhelmed,” admitted the 2014 World Junior champion, who was forced to overcome two major ankle operations to get her career back on track. “I didn’t expect a medal, let alone gold.
“I have only just come back from injury so to win the European title is insane.”
Williams’ unexpected win came after a succession of tight matches, including a golden point quarter-final victory and a 13-12 semi-final triumph against Croatia’s Matea Jelic.
Williams led 2012 European champion Tatar 3-0 but was caught with a head shot in the closing stages.
She was then adjudged to have pushed her Turkish rival causing a penalty point to be added to her opponent’s score.
An appeal by coach Paul Green led to the penalty being rescinded, and he further protested Tatar had deliberately fallen to the floor.
After further video replays, the penalty was recorded against Tatar and Williams was European champion.
While she hasn’t qualified for this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Williams is targetting success at the next Games, in Tokyo in 2020.
Speaking before her gold medal victory on Saturday, Williams had spoken about the struggles of returning to the mat after successive injuries.
She said: “It was devastating suffering the second injury. I only came back for two or three months and then I was out of action again.
“It was hard trying to keep the motivation to train and stay on track. But I got great support from my team mates and the GB medical staff and now I can’t wait to get going.”
With a first senior title now wrapped up, the sky really is the limit for this grounded Welsh wonder.