WHEN the Olympic Torch passed through the streets of Abergavenny last Friday, one local sporting enthusiast was determined to have a ringside seat.

After a lifetime spent travelling the world in the pursuit of playing, coaching and writing about hockey, 97-year-old Nancy Tomkins was not about to let a trifling thing such as old age prevent her from watching sporting history in the making.

Alongside her lifelong American friend Hannie Voyles, Nancy, who lives in Cantref Residential Home joined hundreds of others as they cheered the flickering flame on its way to London.

Of course, having reported on many of the previous Olympic Games for The Guardian newspaper in her capacity as hockey correspondent, Nancy knows a thing or two about the 'greatest show on earth'.

Yet writing professionally about hockey for decades is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Nancy's sporting pedigree.

And although Nancy is not one to blow her own trumpet, her old friend Hannie on a visit from the States kindly did it for her and explained, "I've known Nancy since the early 1950s when her husband and mine were serving as airforce engineers stationed at the Greenham Common military base in Berkshire.

"Nancy was a go-getter for a local hockey club and she taught me everything I know about the great game.

"She's always been very well known and respected in the world of hockey where she made a name for herself as an active and seriously competitive participant, alongside writing about the sport for The Guardian newspaper.

"As well as coaching ladies teams for Ireland and Wales, she's coached in Tobago, Malaysia, Amsterdam, and both the East and West Coast of America."

Hannie added, "Nancy also had a fearsome reputation as an accomplished tennis and cricket player, and you can just bet she'll be glued to the television set throughout London 2012 - such is her undying passion for sport."