As Tokyo 2020 continues, who are some of the Welsh athletes to look out for?

WS240621 TOKYO HERO
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic games has begun after a year-long delay due to the coronavirus pandemic Credit: PA Images

This summer's Tokyo Olympics will see 26 Welsh athletes compete on the biggest international stage of their sporting careers.

With the Games taking place a year later than scheduled, we can now see the final product of years of hard work, dedication and sacrifice.

There is an equal split of 13 men and 13 women, with the majority about to embark upon their first Olympic Games.

There were a record ten medals - four of them gold - won by Welsh athletes at Rio. The group will now be hoping to build on that considerable success.

Lauren Price | Boxing

Lauren Price is making her Olympic debut in Tokyo. Credit: PA

After successful sporting careers in both football and kickboxing, the Newport-born boxer now has her eyes set on success in Tokyo.

Price, from Newport, switched to boxing in 2014 and won Wales' first ever World Boxing Championship gold in 2019.

The most decorated boxer in Team GB says an Olympic gold would top all of her sporting achievements.

Price made her Olympic debut in Tokyo and after winning 5-0 in the round of 16 and she will now face Panama's Atheyna Bylon in the quarter final on Saturday.

Geraint Thomas | Cycling

Geraint Thomas has previously won two Olympic golds, a Tour de France title and multiple other world wins. Credit: PA

With two Olympic golds, a Tour de France title and multiple other world wins under his belt, the Welsh cyclist will again be looking to put his best wheel forward.

Thomas, who started the sport at Maindy Flyers in Cardiff, crashed into a ditch during the men's road race at the Rio Olympics five years ago.

Speaking to ITV, he said, "It was there for the taking almost, it was a great opportunity but that's the way it goes."

Thomas was back on the Olympic track for the fourth time in his sporting career, but he only finished 12th in the men's individual time trial on Wednesday.

Alys Thomas | Swimming

Alys Thomas will be competing in the Women's 200m butterfly event. Credit: PA

At 30-years-old, the butterfly swimmer competed at her first Olympic Games.

Thomas, who trains at City of Swansea Aquatics, won her first international title for Wales in the 200m butterfly at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018.

Despite swimming in Olympic trials since Beijing in 2008, the opportunity arrived for Thomas to make her Olympic debut.

Thomas qualified for the final after finishing fourth in her semi-final race, in which she finished fourth once more, narrowly missing out on a bronze medal by .7 of a second.

Jade Jones | Taekwondo

Jade Jones could be the first ever British woman to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals. Credit: PA

Double Olympic champion, Jade Jones, was hoping to make it a hat-trick in Tokyo, but it was not to be.

The Taekwondo superstar from Flint first got involved in the sport at the age of eight, with the support of her grandfather.

Away from all the blows, Jones has won the BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year in 2012 and been honoured with a MBE in 2013 and an OBE in 2020.

Jones wanted to be the first British woman in any sport to win three consecutive Olympic golds, but she crashed out in the first round in Tokyo.

Joshua Bugajski & Oliver Wynne-Griffith | Rowing

Joshua Bugajski and Oliver Wynne-Griffith will be making their Olympic debut together. Credit: PA

Both rowers have Welsh parents and made their Olympic debut in Tokyo side by side.

Bugajski took up rowing as a student at Cardiff University, while Wynne-Griffith used rowing to keep fit throughout the rugby off-season.

Recent successes, such as winning silver in the 2019 European Championship, stood them in good stead going into these Games.

After finishing 3rd in their heat and qualifying for the final via the repechage, Bugajski and Wynne-Griffith went on to secure a bronze medal when it mattered most.