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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
James Toney in Birmingham

Welsh triathlete Olivia Mathias claims silver at Commonwealth Games and vows to hold gold medal-winning boyfriend on rival team to Labrador promise

Olivia Mathias claimed Commonwealth Games triathlon silver, and then vowed to ensure her gold medal-winning boyfriend kept his promise of getting a dog.

The 23-year old Team Wales star joined forces with Iestyn Harriet, Dominic Coy and former world champion Non Stanford to claim second place in a thrilling finish to the team event at a packed Sutton Park.

Her partner Alex Yee claimed his second gold medal of the Games as part of the England team but seemed to forget the promise he had made Mathias.

"He said if I got a medal then we could get a Labrador, he absolutely said it," she said.

Yee, though, was not so convinced. "That's not right," he insisted. "We never shook on it!"

Jokes aside, this was a serious statement of intent from rising star Mathias and it said everything that Stanford put in the performance of her career on her way to silver.

"I'm so proud of how we performed," Mathias said. "It was pretty nervous watching Non on that last leg but she's such a champion, we just had to trust her to do the business - once she got in front, no-one was passing her.

"To see that Welsh dragon going up the flag pole as I got my medal that was one of the most special moments of my life.

"We said before the race that if everyone gave everything then we had a great chance of a medal. To win a silver, that's the greatest thing."

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