Team GB's gold medal winners at London 2012 Olympics - Telegraph Team GB's gold medal winners at London 2012 Olympics A salute to Team GB's gold medallists at the London 2012 Olympics.

Image 1 of 6 Number one: Sir Chris Hoy struggles to maintain his composure after becoming the most successful British Olympian of all time Photo: GETTY IMAGES Image 1 of 6 Streaking away: Mo Farah on his way to winnig the 5,000m - his second gold medal of the Games Photo: GETTY IMAGES Image 1 of 6 Katherine Grainger (left) celebrates getting her hands on an Olympic gold alongside Anna Watkins Photo: GETTY IMAGES Image 1 of 6 Proud: Ben Ainslie became the most successful sailor in Olympic history and was then chosen to be Great Britain's flag bearer at the closing ceremony Photo: GETTY IMAGES Image 1 of 6 Through the pain barrier: Alistair Brownlee crosses the line to win the triathlon in Hyde Park Photo: GETTY IMAGES Image 1 of 6 Tearful triumph: An emotional Luke Campbell celebrates winning bantamweight boxing gold after defeating Ireland's John Joe Nevin Photo: GETTY IMAGES Rowing, women’s pair Glover, who will have a homecoming parade in Penzance next week, was in a state of disbelief after winning Britain’s first gold of the Games with Stanning.

The former PE teacher even slept with her medal by her pillow. “I think I only had an hour’s sleep the first night,” she said. “I haven’t had a drink for the past four years, so I imagine I will be quite a liability when I do.” The triumph marked the culmination of an extraordinary journey for Glover, who had never stepped foot in a rowing boat until 2008, when she was identified by UK Sport’s Sporting Giants programme. Related Articles Silver and bronze heroes 16 Aug 2012 The 26 year-old recalled: “I remember sitting in a room in Bisham Abbey and someone saying, 'A gold medallist in 2012 could be sitting in this room.’ It was quite surreal.” For Stanning, a captain in the Royal Artillery who may soon be on duty in Afghanistan, the sensation was similarly other-worldly. Her school friends at Gordonstoun voted her the girl most likely to be an Olympic champion. “I was into all sports – a jack of all trades but master of none.

But maybe somebody saw something in me.” Anthony Joshua Boxing, super-heavyweight Joshua’s first priority after winning his gold medal on the last weekend of the Games was to return to Golders Green, to find his cousin, amateur boxer Benga Ilyemi, who had encouraged him to take up the sport four years ago. Ilyemi had given 'Big Josh’ a start by handing him a pair of borrowed shorts and lending him £25 to buy boots. “My cousin convinced me to box, that’s how I got started,” Joshua said this week. “He is the novice amateur 91kg champion of England. He is not as big as me, he’s a shorter, more powerful guy, like Mike Tyson was. “I’m hoping to persuade him to be competing with me in the heavyweight division for GB in Rio in four years. It would be great to go there together in the team.” As he reflects on his dramatic victory in London’s Excel Centre, Joshua will doubtless take in another viewing of the film, 300, which tells the story of the Spartan king Leonidas and a his tiny force taking on the Persians at Thermopylae in 480BC.

Joshua said that watching the film again and again inspired him to remain defiant in the Olympic final. Andrew Triggs Hodge, Tom James, Peter Reed and Alex Gregory Rowing men's four For Britain’s victorious men’s quartet, the giddy days since they won their gold medal at Eton Dorney have brought an overdue reacquaintance with loved ones. “I neglected my responsibilities as a husband,” Triggs Hodge said of his quest for Olympic glory, and in the seconds after victory he pointedly kissed his wedding ring. Reed completed a momentous Olympics by proposing to his fiancée, Frauke Oltmanns, at the closing ceremony, with his team-mates watching. “While everyone was having a big party, I managed to find my way into the crowd and did it all properly. I knew where she was sitting. It was wonderful and we are both thrilled.” James has been busy too, returning to his alma mater of King’s College, Chester, to display his gold medal. Looking back at the four’s dramatic win, which was secured only after a compelling duel with the Australians, he said: “Words can’t describe the atmosphere.

It was epic.” Gregory, winning his first Olympic gold, admitted: “There is just this sense of massive relief.” Sir Chris Hoy Keirin and team sprint It was, perhaps, the defining image of the London Games: Hoy, Edinburgh’s man of granite, blubbing like a baby on top of the velodrome podium after winning his sixth Olympic gold medal. The emotion was shared by those squeezed inside the stifling velodrome – fans and riders – and millions of TV viewers who understood the enormity of Hoy’s achievement in surpassing Sir Steve Redgrave’s record medal haul. Hoy, typically, insisted that Redgrave, with gold medals at five consecutive Games, was the ultimate Olympian. His memories of the keirin are mainly concerned with dragging back a win from the jaws of defeat around the final bend. “I put everything I possibly could into it, the race drained me hugely. It’s almost a desire to do yourself and your coaches and everyone that’s helped you justice. “You reflect just before your race on what you’ve gone through to get here. You’re not willing to let it disappear.

I just thought, 'I am not going to shift’.” Silver medallist Max Levy perhaps put it best when he said of Hoy: “No man is harder to beat. He is never beaten – he is a champion.” Bradley Wiggins Cycling, individual time trial For Wiggins, victory at a sun-drenched Hampton Court was a fitting climax to a spectacular sporting summer. Not only did he storm to victory in the Tour de France, the first Briton to win the most prestigious cycling race of all, but this victory meant he had won more medals than any athlete in British Olympic history. “It was amazing and still hasn’t sunk in properly,” he said. “We came straight back from the Tour, stayed low profile in our hotel and then we had the experience of all those incredible crowds cheering us in the road race. They were there again all along the TT course. I never thought I would experience that in my own country. “The Olympics have been a huge part of my life, it’s why I took up cycling and I have been proud to represent Great Britain in four Games.” Wiggins’s win was capped by one of the most touching celebrations, as he was enveloped in a bear-hug by his wife, Cath, and children.

“As a wife where’s the sacrifice in helping your other half fulfil their dreams?” Cath said. “And it’s not forever. It’s not like we are a services family who are apart year after year.” Mo Farah Athletics, 10,000m and 5,000m He began the Games as a bit of a hero; he ended it as an icon, with even Usain Bolt an admiring courtier, paying tribute by imitating Farah’s 'Mobot’ celebration after winning the sprint relay. The little fella still cannot quite believe how Mo-mania swept the nation and as he protested, “I’m still the same old Mo”, you had to hope he was right. Like Ennis, Hoy and Wiggins, he offered the reassurance that nice guys can be pure gold as athletes. With Farah, following his amazing double triumph, there was the added sensation that he was perhaps a trailblazer as well as a champion. Asked about being a symbol of the uplifting multiculturalism of the home team effort, he said he was happy to play that role. “As a kid growing up in London coming from Somalia was a big thing for me,” he said.

“It just shows you no matter what or where you come from, if you work hard at something you can achieve.” Farah, for instance, marvelled at the labours that went into the gymnastic ability of Beth Tweddle. “I thought: 'Wow, how on earth can she do that?’” while the rest of the world was asking the same about him. “An achievement of extraordinary magnitude,” was how Lord Coe described Farah’s double. To the nation, it was the best of the best of British. Nicola Adams Adams, who became the first woman ever to win an Olympic boxing gold medal, is now a genuine sporting superstar, according to her team-mate and fellow London 2012 gold medallist Anthony Joshua. It is hard to disagree with the super-heavyweight champion’s verdict. In the aftermath of her win, Adams said she wanted to go to Nando’s, and then she was whisked off in a Rolls-Royce to The Savoy for tea. She has met Russell Brand, Dizzee Rascal and Lennox Lewis, and she has been presented with a watch worth several thousand pounds by Omega.

There have been appearances on The One Show on BBC 1 alongside Mo Farah and Boris Johnson, and a civic reception in Leeds, her home town. Yet this proud Yorkshirewoman – who made a reunion with her beloved pet Doberman puppy Dexter, who stayed in kennels during her Olympic adventure, her top priority – is unlikely to lose the grounded attitude that made her such a hit. “I like being the normal Nikki Adams, walking the dog, doing day-to-day things,” she said. And a few drinks? “Why not?” Katherine Copeland and Sophie Hosking Rowing, lightweight double sculls Her face a picture of wide-eyed wonderment, Copeland said that all she could think about after winning this improbable gold was being honoured by the Royal Mail. “The first thing I said to Sophie on crossing the line was, 'We’ve just won – we’re going to be on a stamp’.” For crewmate Hosking, the win has given her a satisfying piece of one-upmanship on father Peter, a world champion in 1980. “My dad used to coach me in the double when we were younger, and I remember him saying I had what it took to be a champion.

I am not sure I believed him, but it is an incredible moment to share this with him now. “Dad was always winding me up, saying that I had never won the worlds, but now I can tell him, 'You haven’t won the Olympics’.” The pair joined forces just six months before the Games, and had a solitary World Cup silver to their name, but they won their gold with a superb demonstration of sculling. Copeland, pictured above with the Duchess of Cambridge, said: “Two months ago I never would have dreamed of this. I tried to convince myself that it was just another regatta.” Jason Kenny Cycling, individual sprint and team sprint Kenny won his toughest race before the Olympics had even started, coming out on top after a three-year battle to earn selection over Sir Chris Hoy, who won the title so memorably in Beijing. The selection dilemma arose when cycling’s world governing body, the UCI, decided that there should be only one rider per country in individual events.

Kenny said: “I hadn’t thought about it until that last ride in the final against Grégory Baugé and then it dawned on me, the battle I had to get here with Chris, knowing that you’ve got someone that definitely would not give that second sprint away. I was thinking, 'I had better not mess this one up’.” Baugé, the defeated world champion, hijacked Kenny’s post-race press conference, with dark mutterings over Britain’s knack of peaking for major championships. But Kenny was unflustered and was photographed later kissing fellow track star Laura Trott. Hoy was hugely complimentary about Kenny’s achievement. “Jason can overtake me,” he said. “I am sure he will go on to become one of the greatest sprinters of all time.” Jessica Ennis Athletics, heptathlon The woman who achieved the most difficult trick of all; to be the one who burst out of the poster and brought the Olympics to vibrant life. Sheffield’s steeliest handled the pressure as the home hero like Michael Johnson did at Atlanta 1996 and Cathy Freeman at Sydney 2000 and admitted with relief afterwards that it had not been easy.

There were times in the endless build-up, admitted Ennis, when her fiancé Andy Hill had to take the brunt of her anxiety as she fretted about the prospect of failure. Ultimately, however, like the rest of the nation, Andy watched his girl win the final heptathlon event, the 800 metres, to prove herself the greatest all-round athlete in the world and laughed: “Isn’t she wonderful? I’ve done well for myself, haven’t I?” Sheffield embraced her with a warm homecoming celebration and, typically, the selfless Ennis thought only of how her victory might rub off on the next generation of budding athletes in her beloved home city. “It is so important we create great role models and we’ve done that with these Games,” Ennis said. She was, of course, too modest to reflect that she has established herself as the most striking role model of them all. Laura Trott, Dani King and Joanna Rowsell Cycling team pursuit Going into the Olympics this was Great Britain’s banker. It was impossible to see this World Championship-winning and world record-breaking trio being beaten and so it proved as they smashed their own world record in all three rides en route to the gold medal.

So complete was their dominance, they came close to lapping the United States squad in the final. “We have all grown so close in the last couple of years, training and racing and spending so much time together, we are like sisters really,” said King. “I suppose we were the form team but there is still a lot pressure, you have still got to go out there and perform, it was such a relief when we pulled it off.” King, like Trott, started life with the British academy as a sprinter but failed to make the grade. She persuaded the British coaches to give her a chance on the endurance programme and immediately found her niche. For Rowsell it was a doubly poignant win, coming as it did on International Alopecia Day. The Surrey-born rider now proudly champions all youngsters who, like her, have suffered traumatic hair loss early in life. Etienne Stott and Tim Baillie Canoe slalom, C2 Life has been a blur for Stott and Baillie since becoming two of Team GB’s unlikely heroes with gold in the C2 canoe slalom.

Stott, who only moved into the Olympic Village the day after winning gold, has been bewildered by being recognised on the street for the first time , while the mayor of his hometown of Bedford has suggested renaming a bridge in his honour. Baillie’s new-found fame, meanwhile, has brought an appearance on the National Lottery show. Thoughts are now turning to the future and whether Rio 2016 is a realistic target. Stott has committed to paddling for another year and will review the situation on an annual basis, but another Olympics, and a further four-year training cycle, is unlikely. The same applies to Baillie, 33, who will now take a break and talk to his coaches before assessing the future, which in 2015 includes the World Championships at Lee Valley. First though he has promised to buy himself a mountain bike as reward for his gold. Andy Murray Tennis, singles Murray is unique within the sweep of Team GB’s 29 gold medallists because his sport chugs on without any sense of let-up now that the Games are over. Indeed, he will be contesting a Grand Slam title in New York as soon as Monday week.

The immediate legacy of his victory over Roger Federer on the middle Sunday of the Olympics was a sense of exhaustion, manifested in his withdrawal after one round of the Toronto Masters citing a sore knee. But Murray is playing again in Cincinnati this week and should go into the US Open with his self-belief – and prospects – at an all-time high. To win the Olympic tennis event, he beat the two highest-ranked players in the world in successive matches. And do not underestimate how seriously the world’s elite players take this tournament: Novak Djokovic came off court almost speechless with despair, and promptly admitted that his sense of disappointment was greater than it had been after losing to Federer in the semi-final of Wimbledon proper. “That was No 1 for me, the biggest win of my life,” Murray said. “I had watched athletics the night before and it gave me such a boost. The momentum the team had was amazing.” Jade Jones Taekwondo, under-57kg By winning Britain’s first-ever gold medal in taekwondo, 19-year-old Jones instantly became Flint’s biggest sporting star since Ian Rush.

Yet Jones, who avenged last year’s World Championship final defeat by China’s Hou Yuzhuo to win the -57kg category, does not intend to let her newly-found fame prove a distraction. On her Twitter account, which now has over 30,000 followers, she has tweeted pictures of the golden postbox in Flint, a chocolate bar named after her and revealed she has had any number of marriage requests since becoming Olympic champion. After a well-earned break, Jones already seems to have set her sights on defending her title in Rio. “I’m going to have some time out and get mentally hungry again,” she said. “Then I’ve got the World Championships next May, so I’ll see where that takes me. “I don’t want to be one of those one-hit wonders, I want to be performing at that level all the time and I know how hard it is in my category. My coach says the amazing thing about me is I’m doing so well but I’ve still got so far to go. I still make loads of mistakes and I’m only 19.

I can get so much stronger as well, my muscles aren’t fully developed yet.” Ed McKeever Canoe sprint, K1 200m The first thing on McKeever’s mind now the Olympics are over is his wedding, which is due to take place next month. His wife-to-be, Anya Kuczha, is keen to avoid a kayaking theme and McKeever has promised not to take his gold medal to the ceremony for fear of taking attention away from the bride. McKeever promised to have a holiday by the seaside to celebrate his win but was unsure of his long-term future in the immediate aftermath of his gold medal last Saturday. “I haven’t made any long-term plans. I’m 28, so it could go either way. I’m just so happy I could contribute to the medal table,” he said. His coaches were telling a different story. Brendan Purcell, the national sprint coach, believes he can go on until Rio and build an Olympic legacy of his own. “Physically and mentally he can go on for as long as he wants and he has that drive. That’s the kind of guy he is,” said Purcell.

McKeever is a hard-working and dedicated athlete peaking in his career. He has accountancy exams in December and is keen to keep up his studies because canoeing does not offer long-term financial stability. Charlotte Dujardin, Carl Hester and Laura Bechtolsheimer Great Britain enjoyed some golden moments in the spectacular setting of Greenwich Park, including this triumph – their first in an Olympic dressage event. But there are now doubts over whether the nature of the legacy the sport will enjoy. Valegro, Uthopia and Alf – the horses that delivered gold for Britain’s trio of riders – are now expected to be auctioned off in an effort to raise around £20 million, which could dent the chance of the squad repeating their success in Rio. Carl Hester plans to sell the animals to raise funds for his business partner Sasha Stewart, whose work in Ireland has been hit hard by the downturn. “It was always the plan to ride them until the Olympics and then they would be sold,” Hester said.

“I’d like to say thank you to the other owners for taking the risk and letting us keep them that long.” Hester, born in Sark, won the Channel Islands’ second Olympic medal, and interest in the tiny location was reported to have increased after his victory with official website traffic up 150%. A spokesman told the BBC most interest had come from “the UK, Europe and especially Canada”. Victoria Pendleton Cycling, keirin gold and individual sprint silver There has rarely been a dull moment in Pendleton’s track racing career and her penchant for drama was maintained during her final days as a competitor at the velodrome. There was disqualification when she looked set for a certain silver medal, and maybe better, in the women’s team sprint with Jess Varnish, a glorious gold medal in the keirin and a showdown with her old nemesis Anna Meares in the individual sprint. “I’m glad that it was me and Anna in the final even if this time the result went against me,” said Pendleton. “It was the way it should have been. She was and is a fantastic competitor.” Her retirement after the race can be seen as a massive changing of the guard.

“If you look for every aspect of a true champion, Vicky possesses them,” said British performance director Dave Brailsford. “I’m sure she’ll take that into the rest of her life. I’d like to say thanks on behalf of British Cycling, because British Cycling owes Vicky Pendleton a huge amount.” Pendleton insists she will not race competitively again: her thoughts are trained on her marriage to fiance and personal coach Scott Gardner, and more humdrum pursuits. “I’d really like to do a cake-decorating course, and a pattern-making course with my mum,” she said. Peter Wilson Shooting, double trap Already merging into the background after his brief moment in the limelight, the 25 year-old from Dorset was on the tube heading to the Olympic Park unnoticed last Saturday when he overheard two youngsters debating whether Mo Farah had a chance in the 5,000 metres. He leaned forward into their conversation and, taking from his pocket the gold medal he won in the double trap shooting, asked if they had ever seen one up close before.

Recounting how the boys’ mother had given him the sort of look that flashed 'stranger danger’, he nevertheless reckoned that the look of astonishment and excitement on the boys’ faces was one of his experiences of the Games. “All the talk is of inspiring a generation,” he said. “I really hope to inspire a handful of people as a more realistic goal.” Wilson recalled the encounter at a homecoming party in the hamlet of Wootton Glanville on Monday night. Despite there only being 120 people registered as living there, double that number crammed into the village hall. Wilson, who had lost his voice in the days after victory, had initially planned to head to Dubai after the Olympics to train with his coach Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Hasher Al Maktoum. But he put the trip on hold to enjoy his victory. Greg Rutherford Athletics, long jump The man from Milton Keynes knows he was considered one of Britain’s surprise gold medallists of the Games, even though he went into the long jump as the world number one on 2012 form. But he always believed he could emulate Lynn 'the Leap’ Davies, and so did his family.

“I had my parents [Tracy and Andy] there watching, as well as my girlfriend, her mum, brother and sister and a few friends as well,” he said. “To have them all there just after I’d won was a bit tearjerking. You forget your mum and dad are probably more nervous than you – somebody needed to be there with a de-fib for my dad just in case! – but I just felt so happy I could reward them now and give them back a gold medal for all their help and support down the years. “It made me think of how supportive my family had been through the years, how through all the sports I tried they were there pushing me on, driving me to Eton for track or to Birmingham for football. They always gave me everything I needed.” Rutherford, who had been so promising but had so often been the nearly man because of injuries, wonders if the triumph might just be the making of him. “There’s never going to be anything bigger than winning a home Olympics,” he admitted. “But now I want to win as many major medals as I can.” Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins For Grainger, gold signalled catharsis.

After three successive silvers, she finally clutched the prize she most coveted as she embraced great friend Sir Steve Redgrave, the five-time Olympic champion, on the shore. “To be honest he wasn’t saying much,” she said. “I don’t know how he coped with five amazing moments like that – just one has filled me up with joy.” She conceded, having shed her status as the eternal bridesmaid, that her career would have felt incomplete without the adornment of Olympic gold. “I wouldn’t have felt any less of a person, but from an athlete’s point of view I would have seen it as a very obvious missing link.” Watkins, who like Grainger is continuing to combine her rowing training with studying for a doctorate, said: “There was pressure from ourselves, because we only wanted one medal. But there was so much trust and confidence in each other.” Grainger, 36, claims she does not know if she will carry on for a fifth Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, but is content to bask in the satisfaction of a lifetime’s ambition fulfilled. “It has been a long, long wait.

I’ve had a great few years, and this is the culmination of a lot of hard work.” Team show jumping Nick Skelton, Scott Brash, Peter Charles and Ben Maher Skelton’s return, together with his horse Big Star, to his yard in Alcester on Sunday, sparked huge celebrations locally. As word leaked out across social networking sites, one friend drove four hours from Aberystwyth to be there to help the great survivor of British show jumping celebrate his gold medal success. According to those who were there, drink was taken. Returning with team-mate Brash, Skelton was thrilled by the reception – which included the local post box being painted gold in his honour. It made the 54-year-old veteran – Britain’s most senior gold medallist – even more determined to press on for another stab in Rio. "It was wonderful,” he said. “Retire? No definitely not. Big Star’s only young. As for me, get my back fixed and I should be good as new.” His team-mate Charles is also home in the Hampshire village of Bentworth, near Alton, while Maher headed back to Essex lamenting the fact the arena in Greenwich is being dismantled.

“We were in an amazing setting with very high set-back stands and people all rooting for their own country, it was a completely different feeling from any other horse show,” he said. “It’s sad we don’t get to keep it.” Alistair Brownlee Triathlon For Brownlee, the small matter of completing a 1,500m swim, 43km bike ride and 10km run was a doddle compared to the gruelling experience of being an Olympic gold medal winner. “I had done 20 interviews by the next morning,” he revealed. “I didn’t realise that there were so many news channels.” The interest in Brownlee was understandable: not only was he Great Britain’s first ever triathlon Olympic champion, he stood on the podium alongside his brother Jonny, who won bronze, becoming the first siblings to win an Olympic medal in the same event since the Searle brothers in the men’s eight in 1992. Yet for the champion himself, the experience was strangely underwhelming. “You spend so much time dedicating yourself to winning an Olympic gold medal and actually I didn’t feel any different at all,” he said.

“I don’t know how I expected to feel.” Brownlee now plans to return to his native Yorkshire, for more gruelling runs on the local fells as he prepares to tackle the 10,000m, as well as the triathlon, at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. “That would be a dream - it would be nice to have a bit of a different challenge,” he said. In the mean time, Brownlee has a Masters to complete at Leeds Metropolitan University: “I’ve got a dissertation in finance to do at some point.” Philip Hindes, Jason Kenny, Sir Chris Hoy Cycling, team sprint Of all Britain’s golden moments in the velodrome, this was the glorious surprise – at least to the cycling world at large, who had watched GB being consistently beaten by both Germany and France during the four years after Beijing. Going into the Games, however, there were rumours emanating from the British camp of some exceptionally fast times by the trio. “We had trained well since the World Championships and knew it was possible,” Hoy recalled. “It didn’t come right out of the blue, but it was still overwhelming when it happened. We enjoyed it and we gave it our all.

I dug deeper than ever before; I didn’t want to let the boys down.” Hoy’s contribution was immense, as always, but it was the performance of Hindes, who was riding at man one, which was the real revelation, according to former Olympian Chris Boardman. “With Jason Kenny and Chris Hoy on board it was all about giving them a launching pad and suddenly this 19 year-old is drafted in late on,” he said. “He had to deliver the ride of his life on the night. That’s exactly what he did and after that GB were flying.” Laura Trott Cycling, omnium and team pursuit The velodrome was rightly saluted as the most boisterous venue at the London Games, and there was no louder cheer than when Trott, the new golden girl of British cycling, claimed victory in the elimination race on day one of the omnium and then clinched gold in the 500m TT 24 hours later.

Although Trott was already a world champion and, indeed, an Olympic gold medallist from the women’s team pursuit event, her individual triumph in London represented the coming of age for an athlete who will form the cornerstone of the women’s squad for years to come, and cemented her reputation as the new Victoria Pendleton. The attention will take some getting used to. “I suppose the strangest thing was just the enormity of suddenly becoming a double Olympic champion,” she said. “My feet hardly touched the ground as I got whisked from one interview to another. I enjoyed the experience but I wasn’t expecting it to be quite so full on.” Proof of her new-found fame came on the final day of track cycling, when she was snapped sharing a kiss with boyfriend and fellow cyclist Jason Kenny: the image promptly made front pages nationwide. Charlotte Dujardin Equestrian, individual dressage Dujardin helped win Britain’s first medal of any colour in the history of Olympic team dressage. Not content with one, she then picked up another gold in the individual event, celebrating both victories on a riverboat on the Thames.

The achievement put her in the most elite of sporting sisterhoods, up with Kelly Holmes and Laura Trott in the pantheon of British women who have won more than one gold in a single Games. The niece of the talent show judge Nigel Lythgoe, her immediate plan is for a short holiday on the Isle of Sark with her trainer, British team-mate Carl Hester, who has invited 60 friends to visit his birthplace. She believes it will be a good place to get away from all the hubbub and to work out what her success is going to mean to her. “It’s a bit of a surreal feeling. I think it will probably take a few weeks for it all to sink in,” she said. “It’s going to be great to just have four days of chill-out and relaxing. This has all been the most unbelievable experience.” Britain won more equestrian medals that at any other Games, and topped the medal table above Germany and Holland. Ben Ainslie Sailing, Finn The 35 year-old has been a busy man since securing that historic fourth gold medal to become the most decorated Olympic sailor of all time.

He was handed the honour of being the flag bearer for Team GB at the London 2012 closing ceremony. But he has not had much time to take it all in. It has, he admits, been a whirlwind. Today he sails his Olympic dinghy Rita up the Thames, in the shadow of Westminster, before heading off for 12 months in San Francisco where he is joining defending America’s Cup team Oracle at the same time as starting his own team, Ben Ainslie Racing, with a view to a full-blown assault on the oldest active trophy in international sport. “I’m sure that in 10 years’ time I will look back and remember this period as an incredible experience – carrying the flag at the closing ceremony was one of the proudest moments of my life – but at the moment it feels slightly surreal. You’re so exhausted and yet so conscious of trying to take everything in.

It helps that I already have my next challenge about to begin.” Ed Clancy, Steven Burke, Peter Kennaugh and Geraint Thomas Cycling, team pursuit Considered the blue riband event of the sport, the British squad had been under huge pressure after under-performing since taking gold in Beijing but suddenly started to turn a corner during the winter and entered the Olympics off the back of their first significant win over Australia in four years at the World Championships in April. At the Games there was no stopping them, as Great Britain broke their own world record both in qualifying and the final. “It was wonderful to see such a hard-working bunch of lads rewarded for their efforts,” reflected coach Dan Hunt. “When you see them flog themselves through the winter and give up so much you want something good for them. “GB were awesome on the day but don’t think it came easy, far from it. We didn’t fire for a couple of years, we couldn’t get the mix right, we had injuries and we had days when it just wasn’t happening. But they are special blokes and they kept plugging away and the back-up staff gave them every support we could.

The end result was the performance we always dreamed of.” Luke Campbell Nicola Adams wins Team GB's first women's Olympic boxing gold | Sport | The Guardian Close This article is 4 years old Nicola Adams is a flat-footed asthmatic, a bubbling flyweight confection of unaffected charisma who makes every room and boxing ring she enters her personal property with a smile of serious wattage. She is as normal as a cup of tea and more special than she might ever have imagined, never more so than when holding an Olympic gold medal on Thursday night, a first among firsts, not only breaking the duck for the Great Britain squad at these Games but leading the way for her sport. Hours later it was still hanging from her neck, a reminder of the heroics she performed over eight minutes in front of 16,000 throat-sore converts to her discipline in the ExCeL, as she emphatically turned back the challenge of China's Ren Cancan, knocking the three-times world champion on her backside along the way, to win 16-7. "It hasn't sunk in yet," Adams said, the ritual response to the ritual question.

"Maybe later, when I might even have a few drinks … Why not, eh?" Her laughter filled the room, just as her punches had filled the ring. This was not the conclusion of her story but certainly the highest point to date. She says there is more to come. "How cool would it to be to win two Olympic gold medals? It's never been done in our sport before, so I am going to go for it." Clearly, becoming the first woman to win an Olympic boxing gold medal has tapped into the natural energy of this very fine athlete. There were no dreams, though, just an instinct that boxing and her were meant for each other, when her mother, Denver, took a then 12-year-old Nicola to the gym in Leeds 17 years ago. It was not to mould a champion, Denver said, but to "give her something to do". The journey to the podium in east London on Thursday night has taken in the struggle against resistance to even her presence in the male preserve of boxing and a back injury that laid her out for three months in 2009 after she had tumbled down the stairs at home and endured the rehab that shaped her into the champion she is at 29.

"Now I will aim at Rio in 2016," she said, still struggling to take in the magnitude of her achievement but conscious of her contribution to women's boxing. "Knowing that young girls might be inspired to take up the sport is as good as winning this medal," she added, still clinging to the gold that will define her forever. "I would love it if there were girls who watched that fight and thought, 'Yes, I can do that.' I got my inspiration when I sat down with my father, at about eight or nine years old, and watched The Rumble in the Jungle. It was amazing watching Muhammad Ali. I watched tapes of Sugar Ray Robinson too – what a terrific left hook. "I hope, too, that winning here will inspire the rest of the guys and we can get even more gold. I will tell them to relax, keep their focus and they are bound to box at their best.

It has been great working with all of them." But the smiling star from Yorkshire – "Northerners, eh?" she laughed – is more than just a boxer, although she is supremely gifted at that, and she was only half-joking when she said later that winning this medal may well get her some bigger acting parts than those she has had as an extra in Coronation Street and Emmerdale. She was headed for a night out with family and friends, then would make plans for a holiday, "although I don't know where". She wanted to get home to her dog, Dexter, and would drape that precious medal around his neck for a bit. What made her day so memorable, though, were not just the details of her story to this point but what she produced in the ring against a formidable opponent. Boxing calmly at distance, she took the first round 4-2, her shots landing cleanly and, more importantly, visibly. The judges have not always been alert in this tournament.

The bout went dramatically in her favour halfway through round two when she landed a peach of a left to the chin of the Chinese southpaw, followed by a right to the temple as she tottered backwards, and Ren was looking at the action from a horizontal position. Adams deserved more than a 5-2 margin, though. In the third Adams went looking for her now slightly reticent opponent. Ren's attacks were reduced to wild swings as she sought to make up the deficit and she was an even easier target. Adams danced away from the uglier exchanges and found openings on the counter to lead 14-5 going into the fourth round. A belting left down the pipe unsettled Ren and Adams walked back to the corner in jubilant mood. She knew not to discount Ren, against whom she has won and lost before, but, husbanding a nine-point lead, she had little more to do than stay out of trouble. Even so, she could not resist a flourish at the end and, like all good boxers – like the great Sugar Ray – she finished with a left hook.

UPDATE: Anthony Joshuain Wins Final Gold, Team GB Takes 29 Gold Medals Total | Anglophenia | BBC America UPDATE: Anthony Joshuain Wins Final Gold, Team GB Takes 29 Gold Medals Total Britain's Anthony Joshua celebrates after wining the gold medal for the men's super heavyweight over 91-kg boxing at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) Copy the link below By Brigid Brown | 4 years ago Anthony Joshua celebrates after wining the gold medal for the men’s super heavyweight over 91-kg. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) UPDATE 08/13/12: Team GB completes Britain’s most successful Olympics for 108 years ending the Games with 29 Gold Medals. The final gold medal was won by Anthony Joshuain the men’s super heavyweight boxing division. The medal victories brought Team GB’s tally to 65, with 29 golds, 17 silver and 19 bronze – its biggest win since 1908. See who else brought in the final victories!

Luke Campbell wins the gold medal in the men’s bantamweight 64-kg boxing competition. (Photo via AP) Ed McKeever wins gold in the final of the men’s kayak 200m sprint event. (Photo via AP) Jade Jones wins first Olympic taekwondo gold medal for Team GB. (Photo via AP) Nicola Adams becomes the first woman to win the Olympic boxing gold. (Photo via AP) UPDATE 08/09/12: It is the first Olympic Games in which women competed inside the boxing ring attracting much attention – Team GB’s Nicola Adams became the first woman to win the Olympic boxing gold over China’s Ren Cancan. Earlier in the hour, Charlotte Dujardin won her second gold of the Games in individual dressage at Greenwich Park. Charlotte Dujardin, on her horse Valegro, waves to the crowd. (Photo via AP) Sir Chris Hoyclaims his sixth gold. (Photo/AP) UPDATE 08/07/2012: Team GB has now won seven of the 10 track cycling events at the London Velodrome with Sir Chris Hoy winning a record breaking six career gold medals.

Hoy told BBC News , “This is enough for me, this is the perfect end to my Olympic career.” Laura Trott joins Hoy in winning multiple golds being the first female British cyclist to win two gold medals in one Olympics. Let’s take a look at who else has won! Laura Trott, 20, becomes the first female track cyclist to claim two golds at a single Games for Britain. (Photo via AP) Alistair Brownlee, right, won the men’s triathlon and his brother Jonny finished third. (Photo via AP) Jason Kenny triumphs in the sprint cycling event. (Photo via AP) Nick Skelton, Ben Maher, Scott Brash and Peter Charles win the team equestrian jumping. (Photo via AP) Andy Murray crushes Roger Federer to win Olympic gold. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano) UPDATE 8/5/2012: Andy Murray, Britain’s great tennis hope, finally made good on his early promise with a victory over his sport’s greatest champion, Switzerland’s Roger Federer, in the men’s singles Olympic final. The gold medal brings Team GB’s medal haul to 16 on Sunday (August 5), adding on to their earlier wins .

Ben Ainslie won his fourth straight gold medal in sailing on Sunday (August 5). He has five total Olympic medals, making him the most decorated sailor in history. (Press Association via AP Images) Mo Farah carries the British flag after securing gold in the 10,000m track and field event. (Rex Features via AP) Jessica Ennis, the pin-up of British athletics, celebrates after winning gold in the women’s heptathlon on Saturday (August 4), which consists of seven track and field events: 100m hurdles, the high jump, shot put, 200m, long jump, javelin, and 800m. (Rex Features via AP) Greg Rutherford pulled off a surprise victory in the long jump on Saturday (August 4). (Press Association via AP) (From left to right) Dani King, Laura Trott, and Joanna Rowsell nabbed the gold in the track cycling women’s pursuit team event on Saturday (August 4). (AP Photo/Christophe Ena) (From left to right) Pete Reed, Andrew Triggs Hodge, Alex Gregory and Tom James raced to gold in the men’s four rowing event.

(Photo: Stephen Pond/PA Wire.) Katherine Copeland (left) and Sophie Hosking won gold in the lightweight women’s double sculls rowing event on Saturday (August 4). (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) (From left to right) Edward Clancy, Steven Burke, Peter Kennaugh and Geraint Thomas won gold in the men’s cycling team pursuit event. (Rex Features via AP Images) Anna Watkins, left, and Katherine Grainger win the double sculls. (Photo/AP) Tim Baillie, front, and Etienne Stott win canoe double slalom. (Photo/AP) Peter Wilson shows off his medal after winning the double trap shooting event. (Photo/AP) Philip Hindes, Jason Kenny, and Sir Chris Hoy display the gold medals they won in the men’s cycling team sprint event on August 2. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Bradley Wiggins on his way to his fourth cycling Olympic gold and his British record-breaking seventh medal. (Rex Features via AP) Britain’s Helen Glover (left) and Heather Stanning became Team GB’s first gold medals in the 2012 games, winning the women’s pair rowing final.

(Stephen Pond/PA Wire, Press Association via AP Images) How many golds do you predict Team GB will win?! Nicola Adams - Mirror Sport Nicola Adams Yorkshire girl Nicolas Adams became the first woman to win an Olympic boxing Gold medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Nicknamed Babyface, she had already made history as the first female boxer to represent England in 2001 and the first to win a European medal in 2007. Pictures: GB Olympic gold medal winners of London 2012 - CBBC Newsround Pictures: GB Olympic gold medal winners of London 2012 12 August 2012 Pictures of all the Team GB gold medal winners from the London 2012 Olympic Games. The honour of getting the first GB gold of London 2012 went to rowers Helen Glover and Heather Stanning. They won the women's pair final on the first Wednesday of the Games. Britain's second gold came from Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins. He won the cycling men's individual time trial. Canoe slalom team Tim Baillie and Etienne Stott were the surprise gold medallists in the double event.

Teammates David Florence and Richard Hounslow got the silver! Looks like they like the taste of success! Twenty-five-year-old Peter Wilson sunk to his knees in disbelief as he won gold in the double trap shooting. He had a good old cry and gave his dad a big hug before he was handed his medal. Philip Hindes, Jason Kenny and Chris Hoy kicked off GB's Velodrome success by taking gold in the team sprint track cycling final. After settling for silver at the past THREE Olympics, it was gold at last for rower Katherine Grainger (left). She and Anna Watkins won the double sculls final on the first Friday. Track cyclists Ed Clancy, Geraint Thomas, Steven Burke and Peter Kennaugh broke their own world record as they successfully defended the men's team pursuit title in the Velodrome. She's nicknamed Queen Victoria. She was disqualified in her first event (the team sprint), but you always knew Victoria Pendleton was going to get gold. Here she is holding on to her medal from the women's keirin. She went on to add a silver to her collection in the sprint race - her last event before retiring. Team GB won a whopping SIX golds on 'Super Saturday'.

The first came from rowers Peter Reed, Andrew Triggs Hodge, Alex Gregory and Tom James in the men's coxless four. Amazingly, it's the fourth Olympics in a row (no pun intended) for Great Britain in this event! Moments later, there was another rowing gold in the women's lightweight double sculls. It took a while for Katherine Copeland and Sophie Hosking to realise that they'd won after crossing the line! Back to the Velodrome now - cycling trio Dani King, Laura Trott and Joanna Rowsell celebrate their gold medals in the women's team pursuit final where another world record was smashed! She was the poster girl of the London 2012 Olympics and she didn't disappoint the home crowd. Jessica Ennis led the heptathlon from the start and threw a lifetime best in the javelin before winning the 800m to take gold. It was the first of three athletics gold in one hour... Long jumper Greg Rutherford was next. His distance of 8.31m was enough for gold. Mo Farah topped off a perfect night on Saturday when he stormed to victory in the 10,000m race.

Ben Ainslie became the most successful sailor in Olympic history when he won his fourth gold medal in the men's finn race at Weymouth. One month after he was beaten by Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final, Andy Murray faced up to his rival again in the final of the Olympics. This time the result was different - Murray beat Federer in straight sets for the biggest win of his life. Unbelievably, the same afternoon he played in the mixed doubles final with Laura Robson! They lost but still came away with silver. In a dramatic jump-off against the Netherlands (the horse equivalent of a penalty shoot-out), Great Britain's show jumpers won their first Olympic gold medal in 60 years. The two countries were tied on points after the team competition and it came down to 52-year-old Peter Charles to get the gold by clearing all the jumps in the course. The cycling golds kept on coming - cyclist Jason Kenny took top prize in the men's individual sprint event. He was chosen ahead of Sir Chris Hoy to take part in the race and the decision paid off when he stormed to victory in a nail-biting finish.

Alistair Brownlee was the favourite to win gold in the men's triathlon and he didn't disappoint. He's only just recovered from injury but that didn't seem to slow him down on the 1,500m swim, 43km cycle and 10km run (phew!) around London's Hyde Park. His younger brother Jonny wasn't far behind him and picked up the bronze medal. History in the making for the equestrian team - riders Carl Hester, Laura Bechtolsheimer and Charlotte Dujardin won Britain's first ever gold medal in a dressage team event. It was Team GB's 20th gold of London 2012 - overtaking the 19 golds that we got at the last Olympics in Beijing in 2008. Little Laura Trott won her second gold of the Games in the omnium, which is made up of six events. Trott is the first British woman to win two cycling medals at one Olympics! No wonder he looks happy - Sir Chris Hoy became GB's most successful Olympian in history when he won the men's keirin. It's the SIXTH gold medal of his career - more than any other British athlete.

After winning a historic gold in the team dressage, Charlotte Dujardin and her horse Valegro claimed their second gold in the individual event - performing to movie themes including Live and Let Die! Teammate Laura Bechtolsheimer won bronze. They're the first ever GB individual dressage medals. Leeds girl Nicola Adams made Olympic history when she became the first ever Olympic women's flyweight boxing champion! London 2012 is the first time that women's boxing has been included and the first time where women have been able to compete in all sports. To another first - Welsh teenager Jade Jones won Britain's first ever Olympic taekwondo gold medal, after defeating Yuzhuo Hou from China. It was a sweet victory as Hou beat her in the world championships last year. 25 golds and counting for Great Britain! Ed McKeever has been called the "Usain Bolt of kayaking" - and he showed them why by storming to gold in the men's 200m kayak final. Yes, you've done it, Mo!

Team GB's Mo Farah is roared home by the crowd in the 5,000m final to claim his second Olympic gold - a week after winning the 10,000m. Boxer Luke Campbell from Hull punched his way to gold in the bantamweight boxing final. He defeated Ireland's John Joe Nevin to grab GB's second boxing gold of the Games. Team GB's 29th, and final, gold medal of London 2012 came from boxer Anthony Joshua, who won the super heavyweight title on the last day of the Games. The Londoner only took up the sport after being dragged to a gym by his cousin! Image gallery Nicola Adams wins historic boxing gold for Great Britain - BBC Sport BBC Sport Nicola Adams wins historic boxing gold for Great Britain By Ben Dirs Media playback is not supported on this device Watch as Nicola Adams wins historic boxing gold at London 2012 Great Britain's Nicola Adams became the first female boxer to win an Olympic gold medal, outclassing Chinese great Ren Cancan in the flyweight final.

Adams, 29, was beaten by Cancan in the finals of the 2010 and 2012 World Championships but the result was never in doubt this time around. Adams opened up a 4-2 lead after the first round with some incisive jabs and clubbing right hands, then knocked Cancan down in the second. Media playback is not supported on this device Nicola Adams receives first women's boxing gold The Leeds boxer made Cancan look like a novice in the final two rounds as her opponent chased the fight, Adams ending up a 16-7 winner. "It's a dream come true," she told BBC Sport afterwards. "I am so happy and overwhelmed with joy right now. I have wanted this all my life and I have done it. To be taking the gold medal back to Leeds will be special." American Marlen Esparza and Indian Mary Kom, the beaten semi-finalists, took the bronze medals.

In front of a vociferous crowd at ExCeL - the majority of the 10,000 crowd were there primarily to see - Adams looked composed from the start, landing with spearing jabs and a handful of clubbing rights as she opened up a two-point lead after the first. She got the better of a fierce exchange at the start of second before a huge right hand had the 26-year-old Cancan reeling on the ropes. Midway through the second, Adams sat Cancan on her backside with a thunderous left-right combination and the Englishwoman won the third round 5-1 to take a 14-5 lead into the final round. Blasting through boxing's barrier While Nicola Adams was dancing like Sugar Ray into the history books, a tiny, silver-haired old lady was perched ringside, watching her every move like a hawk. Adams may not know Barbara Buttrick, but her historic feat was built on the foundations laid by this pioneer of women's boxing, back in the sepia age.

Read more of Ben Dirs's blog here With the fight and the gold medal all but in the bag, Adams coasted the fourth, the lop-sided scoreline accurately reflecting the action. Adams, whose infectious smile is never far from her face, danced a jig and patted the badge on her vest after her arm was raised, although the extent of her historic achievement will probably only become apparent in the coming days. Adams was one of three British female boxers to qualify for the Games - Natasha Jonas and Savannah Marshall lost their first bouts. With four male British boxers fighting for a place in Friday's finals, this is Britain's most successful Olympics in the ring since Melbourne 1956. Women's boxing pioneer Barbara Buttrick, a professional world champion in the 1950s, was in the audience and said she was proud of the achievements of fellow Yorkshirewoman Adams. "When I was around, I would never have dreamed women boxers would ever get into the Olympics," said Buttrick.

"But now they've got that credibility and that will bring a lot more girls into it because they'll feel more comfortable going into a gym." Final Results London 2012 firsts: Facts and feats from the Olympics - BBC Sport BBC Sport London 2012 firsts: Facts and feats from the Olympics 12 Aug 2012 London 2012 has seen some fascinating firsts - here are a selection: First gold medal The first gold medal of the Games was won by China's Yi Siling when she claimed the women's 10m air rifle on 28 July at the Royal Artillery Barracks. "I cried after winning the gold because it relieved all the pressure," the 23-year-old said afterwards. First world record Im Dong-hyun, South Korea's visually impaired archer, set the first world record at London 2012 when he broke his own 72-arrow mark of 696 by three points. Dong-hyun, who went on to win team gold as well, can barely read the big letters at the top of an optician's chart, and aims at a "yellow blob" on the target 70 metres away.

First sprint double Usain Bolt became the first man to retain both Olympic sprint titles when he swept the competition aside to win the 100m and 200m. "I'm a living legend," the 25-year-old Jamaican said after completing the double. "This is what I wanted and I got it. I'm very proud of myself." First sub 37-second relay Jamaica's 4x100m men's relay team broke the 37-second barrier for the first time when they shattered their own world record to win gold in a time of 36.84 seconds. Yohan Blake attempted to put the achievement of his team into context: "Basically, we are not human, we dropped from space like Mr Bean. Mr Bean is not a normal guy, he makes jokes. We are not normal guys. We are from space, I am from Mars." First female Saudi competitor Wojdan Shaherkani became the first Saudi Arabian woman to compete at the Olympic Games when she took part in the +78kg judo competition. "Hopefully this is the beginning of a new era," said Shaherkhani, 16.

"I was scared a lot, because of all the crowd." Sarah Attar later became the first woman from Saudi Arabia to compete in an Olympic athletics event, when she ran in a heat of the 800m. First sub 1:41 in 800m David Rudisha of Kenya became the first man to run the 800m inside one minute 41 seconds when he set a new world record of 1:40.91 while winning the 800m gold medal. "This is the moment I have been waiting for for a very long time," he said. "To come here and to break the world record is something unbelievable." Silver medallist Nijel Amos's personal best time of 1:41.73 was exactly the same time as a previous world record, set by LOCOG chairman Lord Coe in 1981 and equalled by Wilson Kipketer 16 years later. First women's boxing gold Great Britain won the first-ever gold medal in Olympic women's boxing when Nicola Adams from Leeds outclassed China's Ren Cancan to win the flyweight competition.

"Now the time has come, it's finally here," said the 29-year-old. "What a place to showcase women's boxing. I can't believe the support we've had. It's really great how the British public has got behind women's boxing." First taekwondo gold for GB Jade Jones won Great Britain's first gold medal in taekwondo when she beat Yuzhuo Hou of China in the 57kg category. "It's just bonkers and singing that anthem standing there with everyone clapping and cheering, it's just amazing," said 19-year-old Jones. "It was just the best feeling, you can't describe that feeling." First GB v Ireland boxing final Great Britain and Ireland met in an Olympic boxing final for the first time, with Luke Campbell beating John Joe Nevin to secure bantamweight gold for Team GB. "It's a day I've dreamed of for a long, long time," said the 24-year-old from Hull. "I'm lost for words. It means everything.

My family, my city, everyone has been so supportive." First three-time hosts The start of the Games meant that London became the first city to host the modern Olympics three times, having also welcomed the world's athletes in 1908 and 1948. The 1908 Games featured tug-of-war, figure skating, polo and powerboat racing, while in 1948 the last Olympic artistic competition was held, with medals for painting, sculpture and architecture. Share this page womensboxingclub womensboxingclub WEST MIDLANDS SPORTS AWARDS 2016 WINNER CLUB OF THE YEAR 2016 VOTED NUMBER 1 “These tough Brummie lasses make BoxNation proud” (BoxNation) Introducing WBC Women’s Boxing Club. When Nicola Adams became the first woman to box in the Olympics London 2012 for GB, she won the gold medal. At the same Olympics Ireland’s Katie Taylor made History by winning Gold. Making her the greatest sports woman ever in Ireland. 1 olympic Gold, 5 World Amateur championships Gold, 6 European Golds and 5 European Union Amateur Golds.

Since then, there has been a rise of women getting more involved in the sport. And why should there not be, anyone can box and that’s what we at WBC promote. Jason Lowe and Mav Akram set up WBC in November 2014. They now continue to run this at at Community Aero Kick gym in Digbeth, Birmingham. In April 2015 the club was voted number one by Box Nation and in September 2016 won ‘Club of the Year’ at The Birmingham Sports Awards. The Club has also in the 2 year period of operating been boosted by 23 world champions such as Nigel Benn, Joe Calzaghe, Ray Mancini and Anthony Joshua. The Aero Kick gym is affiliated to both England Boxing & The Malta Boxing Commission, opening the realms of both amateur and professional boxing. WBC w as set up as a platform to get women more involved with boxing and keeping fit. It’s all about every individual woman who attends, you get the opportunity to lose weight, keep fit and have fun. You set yourself realistic goals with an amazing sense of achievement. We are a motivational and empowering boxing club. If you box you are a risk taker.

If you are a woman and you box you are a risk taker and a rule breaker. Boxing is like a victorious repossession of strength for a woman, a more mature claim to womanhood. Who says high heels and a deadly left hook are contradictory? Video: Nicola Adams: London 2012 Olympic boxing gold is a childhood dream come true - Telegraph Olympics Video Nicola Adams: London 2012 Olympic boxing gold is a childhood dream come true Team GB's Nicola Adams hopes for more female weight divisions at Rio 2016 after she becomes the first ever woman to win an Olympic boxing title. 7:47AM BST 10 Aug 2012 Nicola Adams was all smiles at her post-victory press conference after she became the first woman to win an Olympic boxing title by beating China's world champion Ren Cancan to the flyweight gold medal. Adams knocked her opponent down in the second round and went on to post a comfortable 16-7 victory at the ExCel Centre. "It's definitely a childhood dream come true," Adams said. The 29-year-old called on Olympic officials to introduced more weight divisions in women's boxing at the next Olympics in Rio in 2016.

While men are competing in ten weight classes at the London Olympics, women have only three forcing many competitors to either struggle to make the weights or miss out entirely. Related Content Nicola Adams Nicola Adams Biography Nicola is the first woman in history to win a gold medal in Womens Boxing at the Olympics in 2012 and is Great Britain’s most decorated female boxer. She was also the first British woman to win a major boxing title with a victory at the 2011 European Championships. She won over the nation with her winning smile and upbeat personality, making her an instant favourite at the London 2012 games. Nicola was the first woman in history to win a gold medal in Womens Boxing at the Olympics in 2012 and is Great Britain’s most decorated female boxer. Nicola qualified for the Olympics by virtue of her performance at the 2012 World Championships in Quinhuangdao, China where she overcame five-time World Champion Mery Kom of India. She is the 2012 European Champion at 51kg and a three-time World Championships silver medallist. The 29-year-old from Leeds started boxing at the age of twelve and had her first bout a year later.

In 2007 she was the first ever English female to earn a medal in a major tournament when she picked up the silver in the European Championships in Denmark. In 2008 she became the first English woman to earn a medal in the AIBA Women's World Championships in Ningbo, China, when she narrowly missed out on gold to the Polish world number one, Karolina Michalczuk. Following this success she faced a debilitating back injury for nearly year but she slowly recovered and in March 2010 she was selected to be part of the first ever women’s GB Boxing squad, training towards London 2012. In September 2010 she picked up her second silver medal at the AIBA Women's World Championships, this time losing-out to Chinese boxer Cancan Ren. In October 2011, she won Great Britain’s first ever women’s gold at a major Championship when she beat Sarah Ourahmoune of France, 15-8, in the final of the European Championships in Rotterdam.

Question: Who became the first woman to win a gold medal in boxing for GB in the 2012 Olympics?
Answer: NICOLA ADAMS