Adams punches her way into boxing history
Yorkshire’s Nicola Adams makes history by winning flyweight gold in the first ever women’s boxing final, overcoming her Chinese arch-rival Ren Cancan.
Adams, Great Britain’s most decorated female boxer, is the current European flyweight champion, as well as three-time World Championship silver medallist. She is the first British woman to ever win a major boxing title.
Her nemesis until today was the woman she faced in the final – Ren Cancan, the current world champion. Cancan, of China, beat Adams at the 2012 World Championships and previously in 2010. Adams has beaten Cancan once – earlier this year – by 12 points to 11.
Adams started strongly, using her left jab and the countering Cancan’s counter attacks. At the end of the first round Adams was leading the fight by four points to two.
Round two again saw Adams attack strongly, landing six punches in a row with her left and right. Her positive attitude paid off when she put Cancan onto the canvas with a left-right combination. At the end of the round Adams was ahead by five.
The third and final round saw Cancan up her work rate, but Adams managed to extend her lead further, pushing the gap to nine points and unleashing a flurry of punches to guarantee victory by 16 points to seven.
And in the boxing event which followed, the women’s lightweight final, Katie Taylor defeated Russia’s Sofia Ychigava to give Ireland its first gold medal of the Games.
Nicola Adams’s boxing success rounded off another successful day for Team GB. Charlotte Dujardin won her second gold of London 2012 in the equestrian dressage, with colleague Laura Bechtolsheimer taking bronze.
In the 10k swim, Keri-Anne Payne, who had been tipped for medal success, could only finish fourth. The event was won by Eva Ristov of Hungary.
Team GB have now a total of 51 medals in these Games. Their tally of 24 golds, 13 silvers and 14 bronze medals means they are well placed to finish the Olympiad in third position overall, behind China and the United States.
What part of Team GB would you be in? Try our athlete calculator…
Who is Nicola Adams?
Adams, nicknamed Babyface, grew up in Leeds, West Yorkshire, and trains in London. The 29-year-old got into the sport by attending a boxing class at a gym in Leeds where her mother did aerobics. She made her debut in 2001.
In 2009 she suffered a career-threatening injury to her back after falling down the stairs at her home. She was out of the sport for a year but rerturned in June 2010 – going on to win silver in the World Championships.
In 2011, Channel 4 News Sports Reporter Keme Nzerem went to meet Nicole Adams as she trained for the London Olympics. You watch his report above.
