A BIG Wrexham football fan is ready to hunt down gold in Paris!

Reds’ supporter and club member Laura Stephens is preparing to compete at her second Olympic Games, which begin with Friday’s opening ceremony in the French capital.

It has been some year already for swimmer Stephens, who claimed a brilliant gold medal at the World Championships in Doha in February.

Then, in April, she was at the STōK Cae Ras to see Wrexham clinch promotion to League One with a thumping 6-0 triumph over Forest Green Rovers.

During an unbelievable spell, three days after that win at a rocking Racecourse, it was announced that Laura had been selected to compete for Great Britain at the summer Olympics in Paris.

At the World Championships, Stephens took gold in the 200-metre butterfly event and in doing so, she became the first British female to win an individual swimming gold medal at the World Championships in 13 years and the first ever British female to win gold in this event at either the Olympic Games or World Championships.

Speaking prior to her final, Stephens told British Swimming: “To be able to put those two swims together in these circumstances, at a World Championships in February, is something we’ve never done before.

“It does feel weird being here, everyone is all in different places - some people can qualify for the Olympics here, we are just training through.

“So to be able to put such strong swims together, I’m over the moon with that and I think I’m in a good place.

“I wanted to be here to just get more major meet swims in, get this kind of atmosphere under my belt, and more experience competing at this level, learning as I go through every single round.

“There aren’t many meets where you have to do three swims, so I’ll go through the processes tonight and then I’m looking forward to tomorrow night to see what I can do.”

Stephens grew up competing for Colchester Swimming Club, before moving onto Plymouth Leander.

She made the switch to the British Swimming Performance Centre, Loughborough after Tokyo 2020, where she swam the 200m butterfly and finished just outside the final spots in what was her debut at such an event.

Due to her training regime, she is unable to attend many Wrexham matches.

However, last season, she joined her dad, Bob Stephens, a season ticket holder, and Wrexham supporter for over 50 years, at the FA Cup match away at Mansfield, which Wrexham won 2-1.

This was a local game for Laura as she is based at the National Swimming Performance Centre at Loughborough.

Bob has been following Wrexham since 1970 and is a former Grove Park and Yale Sixth Form College student. As well as the Forest Green match, Laura was also at the Racecourse for a vital match during previous season’s title-winning run-in.

On the day Ben Foster marked his return to the club, the swimmer was there to see the Reds’ 3-0 win at home to York City.

Her latest stunning success continues her progression in her swimming development over recent years.

The 25-year-old won two medals representing England at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, in Birmingham, while she won the 200m butterfly gold at both the 2022 and 2023 British Championships.

And now she is off to Paris on the search for medal glory.