First gold for Erin since 1996!
But first, here’s Katie’s post-fight interview (more video after the jump!)
From Irish Central:
Olympic Gold medalist Katie Taylor brushes aside the nonsense to bring the prize home
Ireland’s Olympic gold medalist Katie Taylor didn’t just have to dodge opponents left and right jabs all week long in London. She also had to contend with a veritable deluge of potentially distracting rubbish. Taylor took the gold medal this afternoon, the first ever in women’s boxing, by beating Russian opponent Sofya Ochigava. During the lead up to the gold medal bout the Russian girl was guilty of some pretty disgraceful disparaging comments to the media. Sadly, that wasn’t the only disappointing distraction as some of her compatriots in the Russian media added gasoline to the fire with equally stupid comments, and a couple of British journalists made the head scratching ‘mistake’ of calling Taylor ‘British’.
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| do Irish men fear her more than their mothers? |
From RTE.ie:
Katie Taylor wins Olympic gold for Ireland
Katie Taylor has beaten Russia’s Sofya Ochigava 10-8 and won Olympic gold for Ireland.
The 26-year-old from Bray, Co Wicklow, came from behind to win the female boxing lightweight final at the ExCeL Arena in London.
The fight was tied at 2-2 after the first round, and Taylor trailed 4-3 after the second.
However, she went on to win the third round 4-1 to lead 7-5, and held on for the win.
It is the first Olympic Games in which women competed inside the boxing ring and her fight attracted intense national and international attention.
From Irish Examiner:
Katie Taylor – Olympic champion
Katie Taylor has won gold at the Olympic Games.
The Wicklow woman defeated Russia’s Sofya Ochigava in the women’s Lightweight final at London’s ExCel centre on a scoreline of 10-8.
An estimated 10,000 Irish people were in attendance at the venue with thousands of supporters gathered in her hometown of Bray.
Taylor, boxing out of the red corner, didn’t have it her own way but the relief was palpable when her arm was lifted by referee Almonte Martinez.
She set about business in her usual way, pushing forward and flinging right hooks at Ochigava, a tough, two-time former world silver medallist.
But it soon became clear Taylor was in for a test as the Russian matched her strength inside and clinched up close to prevent the overwhelming Irish favourite from getting off her usual array of big shots, the first round finishing 2-2.
From the Irish Independent:
It’s gold! World beater Katie Taylor triumphs in London
Boxer Katie Taylor draws the crowds
Cheers echoed through the streets of Bray in Co Wicklow as Taylor secured at least a silver medal in tomorrow’s fight against Russia’s Sofya Ochigava.
BOXER Katie Taylor fulfilled her lifelong dream today after winning a gold medal for Ireland at the Olympic games in London. She beat Russian opponent Sofya Ochigava 10-8 in front of a capacity crowd which was overwhelmingly in support of the 26-year-old.
Taylor delighted thousands of Irish fans at the ExCel arena in London as well as the estimated audience of over a million people watching at home.
From The Guardian:
Katie Taylor wins Ireland’s first gold medal of London 2012 Olympics
• Lightweight turns tables in third round to defeat Russian
Stung perhaps by the accusation by her Russian opponent that she was “just another boxer”, a champion who benefited from the bias of judges, Katie Taylor exacted measured revenge over eight minutes in the lightweight final on Thursday to deliver Ireland their first but maybe not only gold medal of these Olympics.
There are Paddy Barnes and Michael Conlan to come, and they were as ecstatic as every other Irish supporter among the 16,000 who filled this arena with Fields of Athenry, the misleadingly rousing lament, when Taylor was announced a 10-8 winner over Sofya Ochigava.
From The Telegraph:
Irish delight as Katie Taylor wins Olympic boxing gold
Ireland’s Katie Taylor has added Olympic gold to her four World Championship titles, winning 10-8 against Russia’s Sofya Ochigave.
