Price wins Team GB’s 22nd gold in Tokyo for fourth in the medal table

auren Price’s life has already been one well lived. To kickboxing world champion and international footballer, she can now add Olympic gold medallist.

Her boxing gold was the 22nd and final one for Team GB to cement their place in fourth in the medal table.

After the result was announced, she pointed to the heavens, a nod to her grandfather Derek, who had brought her up when her parents couldn’t and who sadly passed away during the pandemic.

At 27, Price has crammed more into her lifetime than most. A Wales international at football, she also topped the kickboxing world on the side before turning her attention to boxing after a stint as a taxi driver in Cardiff City Centre.

On paper, there was little to separate her as the world No1 and No2 Li Qian, both of them past world champions and more than capable of winning the gold.

But the British fighter produced a tactical masterclass to dominate all three rounds in the 275^th boxing bout in Tokyo.

The opening round was understandably a cagey affair with neither fighter properly committing but it was Price who picked the shots at the right time to be awarded the round by all five judges.

It was more of the same in round two – as only one judge lent in favour of her Chinese opponent. In fact, the only mishap of the entire fight was when Price hit the canvas in round three but only because of losing her footing rather than the punching of Li.

Her medal took Britain to 65 in total in Japan, mirroring the tally from London 2012 and just two shy of the last Games in Rio.

It also capped a superb Olympics for GB boxers, who won six medals in total, their best haul at a Games for 101 years.