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Writer's pictureGareth Rees

Lauren Price MBE: The sporting sensation who grew up in Ystrad Mynach


Lauren Price and a gold telephone box in honour of her winning olympic gold
Left, gold telephone box (Credit: Phil Morris). Right, Lauren Price (picture from her Instagram).

Lauren Louise Price MBE was born on the 25th June 1994 in Newport but grew up in Ystrad Mynach, where she was raised by her grandparents. She is a professional boxer, former amateur boxer and former kickboxer and footballer.


She has held the British welterweight title since May 2023. While representing Wales in the amateur sport she won a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, becoming the first Welsh woman to win a Commonwealth Games boxing medal. Four years later, she won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, followed by gold at the 2019 World Championships. While representing Great Britain, she won gold medals at the 2019 European Games and ultimately the 2020 Summer Olympics.


As an amateur, Price was simultaneously the holder of the Olympic Games, World, European Games and Commonwealth Games titles at Middleweight through 2019 and 2021.


Price 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 then gave up football in 2014 to focus on her boxing career.


She attended Heolddu Comprehensive School in Bargoed where she showed a keen interest in several sports, taking up football, netball and kickboxing at the age of 10, the last of which after encouragement from her grandfather. As a kickboxer, she won a silver medal at a World Championship event in Athens at the age of 13, competing against opponents twice her age, and became the youngest ever competitor in the British Championships. She went on to become a four-time world champion and six-time European Champion in the sport.


In 2021, a phone box was painted gold in her hometown of Ystrad Mynach to honour her winning gold at the 2020 Summer Olympics. The phone box stands on Penallta Road and was commissioned by Gelligaer Community Council. It stands as a monument to the sporting hero's Olympic success. Price was also appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to boxing.


Price studied a Foundation Degree in Football Coaching and Development at the University of South Wales. Her partner is fellow boxer Karriss Artingstall. She has not lost a professional boxing match and is set to fight again this year.




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