AFTER an extra year of waiting, a trio of Gwent athletes are hunting Olympic success in Tokyo in the coming days.
Boxer Lauren Price from Ystrad Mynach, Blackwood taekwondo fighter Lauren Williams and hockey player Jacob Draper from Cwmbran are members of Team GB ready for action in the delayed Games.
The trio won't be cheered on by crowds in Japan because of the coronavirus pandemic but will have plenty of backing from back home.
Here is when you can watch the trio go for glory in Japan…
DRAPER
The 22-year-old is the first Gwent athlete to get under way with the men’s hockey team taking on South Africa on Saturday (10.30am).
That is followed by clashes with Canada on Monday (1.30am), Germany on Tuesday (2am), the Netherlands on Thursday (2am) and Belgium on Friday (11am).
Draper & Co will hope to still be in action next month with the semi-finals on Tuesday, August 3 before the medal clashes on Thursday, August 5.
Defender Draper, who started playing the sport at Monmouth School and Gwent Hockey Club, made his Wales debut at the age of 21.
He has racked up a half-century of caps for his country, and played at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, along with 16 for GB but this is his Olympic debut.
In the current men's world rankings, Australia are first, Belgium second, Netherlands third, India fourth and Germany are fifth with England in sixth.
WILLIAMS
The 22-year-old is making her Olympic debut in the -67kg taekwondo on Monday when she faces Malia Paseka of Tonga in the round of 16 (5.30am).
The quarter-finals, semis and final are all on the same day, with the final at 1.30pm.
Third-seeded Williams is a podium contender after previously winning medals at Taekwondo Grand Slam (gold 2018), Taekwondo Grand Prix (gold 217 and 2018, silver 2018, bronze 2018) and European Championships (gold 2016 and 2018, silver 2021).
Now based in Manchester and training alongside compatriot Jade Jones, the Gwent fighter knows that she will have to be on her game.
“The biggest thing for me is the chance to get an Olympic medal,” she said before heading to Japan. “It’s what I want, and I’ll do anything I can to get it.”
PRICE
The 27-year-old is among the leading British contenders to win gold – and become the first Welsh boxer to stand on the top step of the podium.
The world champions middleweight gets under way on Wednesday when she takes on Mongolia’s Myagmarjargal Munkhbat (11.30am).
The quarter-finals are on Sunday, July 31, the semis are on Friday, August 6 and the final is on Sunday, August 8 (6.45am).
Price is ranked first in her division and has already stood on top of the podium at Commonwealth, world and European level.
The southpaw will expect to ease through to the later rounds when she could well go up against Nouchka Fontijn, a Dutch rival who she has had extremely tight fights with in the past.
Price, who won 52 Wales caps in football and was a kickboxing world champion, is determined to go all the way after dominating the division.
“The Olympics mean the world to me and if I was to go and win a gold medal it would top everything in my career,” she said.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here