Lightweight (57-60 kilograms), Women

The storyline of the lightweight division at the 2012 London appeared to have been plotted out well in advance. Katie Taylor of Ireland, the outstanding woman boxer of recent years, would overwhelm all her opponents with ease as she bathed in the applause of a vast green clad army of supporters who had followed her across the Irish Sea. And that, more or less, is what happened…

When Taylor stepped into the ring for the gold medal decider against old rival Sofya Ochigava of Russia most of Ireland came to a standstill. 10,000 people gathered to watch on a giant screen in her town of Bray (population 8,000) and inside the Olympic arena the crowd noise soared to an estimated 120 decibels. In truth Taylor’s performance was not one of her best but she rallied after a shaky start to overhaul Ochigava’s early lead and then withstand the Russian’s final onslaught to win by a 10-8 margin. She became the first Irish Olympic boxing champion since 1992 and only the second Irish woman, following the controversial swimmer Michelle Smith, to win Olympic gold.