Lauren Price had already become the first Welsh female boxer to make it to the Olympics by her mere presence in Tokyo. Then she flitted through three rounds with precision and focus to reach the middleweight semi-final, guaranteeing herself an Olympic medal no matter how things ended. She had done all of this after a remarkable, varied athletic career in which she won more than 50 caps for Wales in football and established herself as an elite kickboxer.
But she wanted more. She always wants more. And in a tense, tactical bout against one of her most familiar foes, she got it. Price advanced to the Olympic final by the narrowest of margins, defeating Nouchka Fontijn of the Netherlands by the tightest of margins, 3-2 in a split decision. Price, the top seed, will now face Li Qian of China, the second seed, for the gold medal on Sunday.
“It has been a dream of mine to get to the Olympic Games, become an Olympian, and to get a medal I can’t quite believe it,” she said. “I am into the final now and it is a dream come true. I am not stopping now – my aim is to win that gold. I am going to give it my all.”
The semi-final rekindled a rivalry that has spanned world championship, European and now Olympic bouts. Most notably, Price dramatically won the world title in 2019 by defeating Fontijn on appeal after initially being declared the loser. Price says the gathering hype led her to abjure social media in the morning.
“I have had to stop looking at my phone because of the amount of tweets I have had, saying the amount of times we have faced each other, the Europeans, worlds, everything. I can’t look at that too much. I respect her a lot, she is a world-class fighter, we know each other inside out and it is always going to be that close.”
It helps that their styles also snugly contrast. Fontijn stands at 5ft 11in and imposed all of her height and strength on the front foot, while the 5ft 6in Price was in constant motion, landing rapid combinations during quick raids before making her swift escape. The 27-year-old Price said she had anticipated a slower start from Fontijn as in their other bouts, but both were immediately present in an intense opening round.
Fontijn narrowly won the first round, but Price was gaining momentum and edged the second. She was still in a precarious position going into the third round, trailing on the scorecards of four of the five judges having also been deducted a point for excessive holding. Under the weight of Olympic pressure, Price produced her best of the day when it mattered, landing blows and evading them with feathery footwork as she convincingly won the third.
“I was 3-2 down, which isn’t 5-0 so it is not too far,” she said. “It was one of them, getting a point off, I have been there a number of times, so it is nothing new to me. I didn’t panic much about that, trust my corner, and I knew I had to give my all last round. I got into my rhythm and I felt I won the last round quite comfortably with my speed and movement.”
The bout ended with the Dutchwoman winning over two of the judges and losing one while two had finished with a draw. According to competition rules, both judges with drawn scorecards were charged with choosing their preferred winner to break the tie. Both chose Price.
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As Price bathed in the satisfaction of her big win, five metres away in the mixed zone her 33-year-old rival dissected her defeat. Fontijn has enjoyed a full and satisfying career of her own, even though she was never quite able to win a big title at world level. She won silver in Rio 2016 in addition to her bronze in Tokyo. She has been a multiple finalist in world championships, winning silver medals in 2016, 2018 and 2019.
This has been a tournament filled with tears and despair at the death of Olympic dreams, but there were none here. Asked what comes next for her and whether she would be winding down her career or going for Paris 2024, Fontijn’s face lit up into a wide smile and then she nodded. “Yeah, I’m done,” she said.