Katie Taylor Brings Boxing Pride, Gold Medal Home To Ireland
From the archive: published Aug 9, 2012, 14 years ago. Details may have changed since.
Katie Taylor had been waiting a long time for women’s boxing to be included at the Olympics, and, now that it has, the Irish boxer can top her career with one of the few accomplishments she had yet to earn — a gold medal.
Taylor won the lightweight gold at the 2012 London Olympics on Thursday, capping off a career in which she won four world titles, Reuters reported. The 26-year-old Taylor was set to take gold in 2008 but had to instead watch from home as boxing was the only sport missing from the women’s slate of competitions.
Katie Taylor came into London as an overwhelming favorite, and she lived up to the expectations. She beat Russia’s Sofya Ochigava 10-8 in an arena overflowing with loud Irish fans waving flags and chanting “Ole Ole Ole,” the Associated Press reported. Taylor was aggressive in the bout, landing two solid right hooks on Ochigava but going into the third and final round tied on the scorecard.
The third round belonged to Katie Taylor, who opened up a two-point lead and would cruise to victory. Despite the late dominance, the former international soccer player still looked visibly nervous as she waited to hear the results of the gold medal match.
Katie Taylor’s victor was a relief for Irish boxing fans. The nation last won gold in the Olympics in 1996 when swimmer Michelle Smith took three medals, but those became tarnished when she was suspended for doping two years later.
Her victory even reached the nation’s prime minister, Enda Kenny.
“Katie Taylor is not only an Olympic champion, she is a force of nature whose pioneering spirit and boxing brilliance have seen her realise her personal dream of winning Olympic gold,” Kenny said in a statement.
“She has won the hearts and minds of the Irish people who admire her greatly and love her to bits.”
The fight drew more than 10,000 people to a soccer stadium in Katie Taylor’s hometown of Bray, just outside of Dublin. The tense crowd erupted in applause just seconds before the final bell when the commentator noted “and the gold medal is on it way to Bray.”