Sport stars you might not know are from Newport

From boxers to olympians and cyclists, people from the area have some seriously impressive sporting accolades behind their name.

Here are some of the biggest sports stars that hail from in and around Newport:

Lauren Price - Boxer

Lauren Louise Price is a Welsh amateur boxer, and former kickboxer and footballer.

She competed for Wales in the women's middleweight category at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where she won a bronze medal. In doing so, she became the first Welsh woman to win a Commonwealth Games boxing medal.

Four years later she surpassed this achievement by winning gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games held in the Gold Coast, Australia.

She also played football for several years with Cardiff City, winning the inaugural season of the Welsh Premier Women's Football League in 2013.

Having captained Wales at under-19 level, she made her senior debut in 2012. She gave up playing football in 2014 to focus on her boxing career.

Amy Hill - Cyclist 

Jon Mould from Newport, Amy Hill from Langstone and Sam Harrison from Risca at yesterday's launch of the Team Wales Commonwealth Games kit. Picture: JON BEVAN

Cyclist from Langstone, Amy Hill currently rides for Team Rytger. She previously rode for Abergavenny RC Women’s Team. 

She was a member of the record breaking, gold medal winning, British team pursuit squad at the Juniors world championships in 2013.

On 8 August 2013, at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow, Hill competed at the UCI Juniors Track World Championships.

She was part of Britain's Team Pursuit squad which also included Hayley Jones, Emily Kay and Emily Nelson.

In the qualifying heat, they broke the senior world record which had only been set a few weeks previously at the European Track Championships, setting a new time of 4:38.708.

In the final, they broke the record once more, with a time of 4:35.085, beating Russia to become world champions.[4]

Hill represented Wales at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, 2014.

Sam Harrison

Another incredible cyclist from Gwent is Sam Harrison. He has twice won medals at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships, in 2011 and 2013.

Harrison is from Risca, Newport. He tried cycling after hearing his friends saying that Newport Velodrome was fun, and at the age of 13 he was soon racing with the local club, Cwmcarn Paragon.

He was selected to be a member of British Cycling's Olympic Development Programme in 2008.

Harrison was nominated for the BBC's Young Sports Personality award in 2008, after winning three titles in the youth competition of the British National Track Championships.

In February 2009, he was selected to represent Great Britain at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships.

 He also won two medals at the Under-23 European Track Championships.

Harrison represented Wales at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, 2014. He was named as a member of the WIGGINS team squad for the 2016 season. 

Mica Moore - Bobsleigh and sprinter

Mica Moore is a women's bobsleigher and sprinter. She competed for Wales in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, and competed in the 2-women bobsleigh event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Moore is from Newport where she began her sporting career as a sprinter, running for Birchfield Harriers and Cardiff Metropolitan University. Moore was coached by her father Lawrence.

In May 2008, Moore won the 100m and 200m events at the under-17 Wales National Championships. Her mother Lolita Moore won the 100m and 200m Masters events at the same event.

Christian Malcolm - Sprinter

Christian Sean Malcolm is a retired Welsh track and field athlete who specialised in the 200 metres. In 2020 he was appointed Head Coach of the British Athletics Olympic Programme.

Malcolm was born and was brought up in Newport, where he still lives. He attended  Eveswell Primary School and Hartridge High School.

Neil Haddock - Boxer

Boxer Neil Haddock is a Welsh former lightweight and super featherweight.

Before turning professional he won a silver medal as a lightweight at the 1986 Commonwealth Games.

His early career as a professional lightweight was not very notable, but after a year out from boxing caused by an eye injury, he returned fitter and lighter as a super featherweight.

In 1992 he became the Welsh super featherweight champion, taking the British title just five months later. He retired from boxing in 1994.

Sallyanne Short- Sprinter

Sallyanne Short is a Welsh former sprinter who competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres. She represented Great Britain in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.

Short was born in Newport and began her international career in 1986. She represented Great Britain at the World Junior Championships in Athens and Wales at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, where she won a bronze medal in the 4 × 100 m relay.

Mark Bennett - Snooker player

Former professional snooker player Mark Bennet was born in Newport and still lives in the area.

After winning the Welsh amateur title in 1985, he turned professional the following year.

He was ranked in the top 32 for four seasons between 1991 and 1995, reaching a high rank of 24 in 1993.

Throughout his thirteen-year professional career he never reached a ranking final, but managed to reach several tournament quarter-finals and semi-finals.

He qualified for the World Championship four times between 1987 and 1994, but never made it past the first round, coming closest in the 1990 event when he lost 9–10 to John Parrott.

Following his promising result in the 1996 Grand Prix, Bennett's career went into decline, and he eventually retired from professional snooker in 1999; however, he still occasionally plays in Welsh Amateur League matches and works as a snooker coach in the Monmouthshire region.

Have you seen any of these sports stars in action? Let us know in the comments.