Members of Team GB during the closing ceremony. Pic: Getty Images.

The Tokyo Tally . . . Four Welsh Golds, 11 Medal Winners, And Two History-Making Women In Hannah Mills And Lauren Price

The Tokyo Olympics will be remembered as the Games where Welsh women re-wrote their country’s history.

Hannah Mills and Lauren Price not only came home with gold medals, but their achievements were trailblazing firsts for the nation.

Together with Matt Richards and Calum Jarvis, they not only contributed to three gold medal events won by Welsh athletes for Great Britain (providing gold for four athletes as swimmers Richards and Jarvis were part of the 4 x 200m freestyle relay squad) but the Welsh female pair have now gone where no others have gone before.

Embed from Getty Images

Mills is now the most successful female Olympic sailor of all time with two gold medals and a silver.

Her event, the 470 class, will be mixed in Paris in 2024.

Price is the first Welsh boxer to win Olympic gold and only the second female British boxer to reach the top of the Olympic podium.

Her victory on the final day in Japan, means Welsh athletes have now won gold medals in the following sports: athletics, boxing, cycling (track & road), rowing, show jumping, swimming, taekwondo, three-day event and water polo.

Embed from Getty Images

For the second successive Olympics, women also outnumbered men in the number of medals won by Welsh competitors.

Four years ago in Rio, Mills’ gold was one of eight achieved by women out of 11 in total by Welsh athletes.

Embed from Getty Images

In Tokyo, there were again a record-equaling 11 Welsh medal winners. Six were women.

The 11 were:

Hannah Mills, 470 Sailing – GOLD

Lauren Price, Middleweight Boxing – GOLD

Matt Richards, 4 x 200 freestyle relay – GOLD

Calum Jarvis, 4 x 200 freestyle relay – GOLD

Lauren Williams, -67kg Taekwondo – SILVER

Elinor Barker, Women’s Team Pursuit – SILVER

Tom Barras, Coxless 4s Rowing – SILVER

Sarah Jones, women’s hockey – BRONZE

Leah Wilkinson, women’s hockey – BRONZE

Oliver Wynne-Griffith, Men’s eight Rowing – BRONZE

Josh Bugajski, Men’s eight Rowing – BRONZE

And that’s not the end of the Welsh success story at these Olympics, either.

Embed from Getty Images

Jake Heyward smashed the Welsh 1500m record in his track semi-final before finishing ninth in the final in his first Olympics at the age of 22.

Richards not only swam an astonishing third leg on the way to relay gold in the pool, but he also broke the Welsh record for 200m freestyle in the Olympic trials in London.

Alys Thomas and Dan Jervis made Olympic finals in the pool, while the record six Welsh swimmers made up 20 per cent of the Team GB swimming squad.

Lauren Williams took silver in the taekwondo, as did Elinor Barker in cycling’s women’s team pursuit and Tom Barras in the coxless 4s rowing, while the bronzes in hockey and rowing made it 11 medalists in total – the joint highest total of Welsh medalists in a single Games alongside four years ago.

Sarah Powell, chief executive of Sport Wales, said: “This was a Games that was being talked about for all the wrong reasons in the build-up, but once the sport started the athletes took centre stage and we were treated to some truly iconic sporting moments.

“While it was clearly a very different experience for those out in Tokyo, as fans glued to the coverage back at home we were treated to the familiar rollercoaster of highs and lows that are part of sport and one of the reasons why being a fan is so compelling.

“For me, the new sports and formats added a refreshing element to the Games bringing a new energy and excitement and hopefully a new audience.

Embed from Getty Images

“The exploits of Lauren Price becoming the first Welsh Olympic boxing champion and Hannah Mills becoming the most decorated female sailor in Olympic history have grabbed the headlines.

“We should be just as proud of those who didn’t achieve their personal goals but represented Team GB and Wales brilliantly on the world stage and showed that there are plenty of ways to connect with and inspire the public that don’t involve winning a medal.

“It felt like a turning point for sport. Many of the athletes chose to use the platform they were given to share their vulnerabilities and talk openly about the pressures they face.

“They have helped create a really healthy debate about the importance of creating the right environment. I hope that it’s a conversation that continues and we see more progress in the months to come.

“Their genuine openness made them all the more relatable and the focus on the athlete journey and the communities that have supported and shaped their experiences was great to watch. I have to say Lauren’s interview yesterday brought a tear to my eye.

“I am so extremely proud of the work you all do at Sport Wales and the contribution you will have made be that small or large in supporting the development of sport in Wales and ultimately enabling those special few to become Olympians.

 

“I am very much looking forward to turning my attention to the Paralympic Games due to start in just 15 days and continuing to laugh and cry alongside our amazing athletes.

“Thank you again and I hope the last couple of weeks has been a reminder that you are all making a positive difference to sport and to life in Wales.”

 

WELSH OLYMPIANS

Olympic Medal Roll of honour

 

1908 LONDON 5 medals

Paulo Radmilovic, Water Polo – GOLD

Paulo Radmilovic, 4×200 freestyle swimming – GOLD

Albert Gladstone, Men’s coxed eights – GOLD

Reginald Brooks-King, Archery (Men’s Double York Round) – SILVER

Welsh team, Hockey – BRONZE

 

1912 STOCKHOLM 5 medals (1 woman)

David Jacobs, 4x100m sprint relay – GOLD

Irene Steer, 4x100m freestyle swimming – GOLD

Paulo Radmilovic, Water Polo – GOLD

William Titt, gymnastics – BRONZE

William Cowhig, gymnastics (men’s team all-round) – BRONZE

 

1920 ANTWERP 4 medals

Paulo Radmilovic, Water Polo – GOLD

Christopher Jones, Water Polo – GOLD

Cecil Griffiths, 4x400m relay – GOLD

John Ainsworth-Davies, 4x400m relay – GOLD

 

1932 LOS ANGELES 4 medals (2 women)

Hugh Edwards, Coxless pairs rowing – GOLD

Hugh Edwards, Coxless fours rowing – GOLD

Valerie Davies, 100m backstroke swimming – BRONZE

Valerie Davies, 4x100m freestyle swimming – BRONZE

 

1948 LONDON 5 medals

Thomas Richards, Marathon – SILVER

Ken Jones, 4x100m sprint relay – SILVER

Ron Davies, Hockey – SILVER

William Griffiths, Hockey – SILVER

Sir Harry Llewellyn, Team show jumping – BRONZE

 

1952 HELSINKI 4 medals

Sir Harry Llewellyn, Team show jumping – GOLD

John Disley, 3000m steeplechase –BRONZE

Graham Dadds, Hockey – BRONZE

John Taylor, Hockey – BRONZE

 

1960 ROME 2 medals

David Broome, Show jumping – BRONZE

Nick Whitehead, 4x100m sprint relay – BRONZE

 

1964 TOKYO 1 medal

Lynn Davies, Long jump – GOLD

 

1968 MEXICO CITY 3 medals

Richard Meade, Three-day equestrian team event – GOLD

Martyn Woodroffe, 200m fly swimming – SILVER

David Broome, Show jumping – BRONZE

 

1972 MUNICH 3 medals

Richard Meade, Three-day equestrian team event – GOLD

Richard Meade, Three-day equestrian individual event – GOLD

Ralph Evans, light-flyweight boxing – BRONZE

 

1980 MOSCOW 2 medals (1 woman)

Michelle Probert, 4x400m relay – BRONZE

Charles Wiggin, Coxless pair rowing – BRONZE

 

1984 LOS ANGELES 1 medal

Robert Cattrall, Hockey – BRONZE

 

1988 SEOUL 1 medal

Colin Jackson, 110m hurdles – SILVER

 

1992 BARCELONA 1 medal (1 woman)

Helen Morgan, Hockey – BRONZE

 

1996 ATHENS 2 medals

Jamie Baulch, 4x400m relay – SILVER

Iwan Thomas, 4x400m relay – SILVER

 

2000 SYDNEY 1 medal

Ian Barker, Sailing (49er class) – SILVER

 

2004 ATHENS 1 medal

David Davies, 1,500m freestyle swimming – BRONZE

 

2008 BEIJING 5 medals (1 woman)

Nicole Cooke, Women’s road race cycling – GOLD

Tom James, Coxless fours rowing – GOLD

Geraint Thomas, Cycling team pursuit – GOLD

Tom Lucy, eight-man rowing – SILVER

David Davies, 10km open-water swim – SILVER

 

2012 LONDON 7 medals (3 women)

Tom James, Coxless fours rowing – GOLD

Geraint Thomas, Cycling team pursuit – GOLD

Jade Jones, -67kg Taekwondo – GOLD

Freddie Evans, boxing – SILVER

Chris Bartley, rowing (lightwt men’s four) – SILVER

Hannah Mills, sailing (470 class) – SILVER

Sarah Thomas, hockey – BRONZE

 

2016 RIO – 11 Medals (8 women)

Hannah Mills, 470 Sailing – GOLD

Jade Jones, -58kg Taekwondo – GOLD

Owain Doull, Men’s Team Pursuit – GOLD

Elinor Barker, Women’s Team Pursuit – GOLD

James Davies, Rugby Sevens – SILVER

Sam Cross, Rugby Sevens – SILVER

Victoria Thornley, Women’s Double Sculls – SILVER

Rebecca James, Keirin – SILVER

Rebecca James, sprint – SILVER

Jazz Carlin, 400 metres freestyle – SILVER

Jazz Carlin, 800 metres freestyle – SILVER

 

2020 TOKYO – 11 Medals (6 women)

Hannah Mills, 470 Sailing – GOLD

Lauren Price, Middleweight Boxing – GOLD

Matt Richards, 4 x 200 freestyle relay – GOLD

Calum Jarvis, 4 x 200 freestyle relay – GOLD

Lauren Williams, -67kg Taekwondo – SILVER

Elinor Barker, Women’s Team Pursuit – SILVER

Tom Barras, Coxless 4s Rowing – SILVER

Sarah Jones, women’s hockey – BRONZE

Leah Wilkinson, women’s hockey – BRONZE

Oliver Wynne-Griffith, Men’s eight Rowing – BRONZE

Josh Bugajski, Men’s eight Rowing – BRONZE

 

Total: 68 medals  (31 Gold – 25 Silver – 12 Bronze)

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *