Former Monmouth School for Boys’ student Lewis Oliva has clinched a silver medal at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Lewis, a talented cyclist with Team Wales, finished second in a thrilling final of the men’s keirin at the Anna Meares Velodrome on Friday.
Lewis, from Devauden, near Monmouth, produced a superb ride in the final to split Australian gold medallist Matt Glaetzer and New Zealand’s Ed Dawkins.
It is Lewis’ third Commonwealth Games and he had to win a repechage to reach the semi-finals after finishing a below-par third in his first round heat.
The Old Monmothian stormed to victory in the first round of the repechage and then qualified for the final after taking third spot in the heat.
Oliva left the GB Cycling programme in Manchester to move back to Wales to study medicine, and target the Commonwealth Games. He said: “I’ll wake up in a bit and it will all be a dream. I’m speechless. To have a two year plan like this - the belief of my coaches, my fiancée and my family - for it actually to pay off, its unreal.”
“It was a case of digging in through the repechage and getting a solid win under my belt, scraping through the semi, and then putting it all our there in the final. For it to pan out like this, and almost be up there for the gold , was amazing. “I wanted to start studying in Cardiff. Cardiff University have been great. I had a plan to work with my coaches, the support of the Welsh Institute of Sport and everyone at Welsh Cycling has been brilliant. And especially my fiancée who has been thick and thin herself.”
Headmaster at Monmouth School for Boys, Dr Andrew Daniel, said: “Lewis is a fantastic role model for the students at Monmouth and this great achievement is the result of many years of hard work and dedication. Lewis balances his cycling with his studies at Cardiff University and everyone at Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools is very proud of him. Lewis is an inspiration to the boys and a fantastic ambassador for the school.”
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