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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
Olympian – thanks for all the love and support over the past few weeks💫🇬🇧🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/XbCL5VNftA
— Joe Brier (@joebrier99) August 9, 2021
“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)