Olympic committee strikes blow for Irish hopes of gold

IRELAND’S MOST decorated boxer, Katie Taylor, finally got what she has always wanted when the news arrived from Berlin yesterday afternoon.

The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) executive decided that women’s boxing, after years of lobbying and narrowly missing out of being included in Beijing in 2008, would be part of the London Olympics in 2012.

Twice a world champion, three times a European champion and last year voted the best female boxer in the world by the sport’s governing body, the AIBA, the 23-year-old from Bray, Co Wicklow, can now seek to add an Olympic medal to her growing collection.

The IOC decided that women would compete in three weight divisions in London; at flyweight (48–51kg), lightweight (56–60kg), and middleweight (69–75kg), with 12 boxers taking part at each weight.

It brings an end to the anomaly of boxing being the only sport in the games that did not have female participation.

Gender balance is the new IOC buzzword, and when a Canadian supreme court judge rebuked the organisation last month for having a bias towards male athletes, it seemed likely that the executive would make the appropriate adjustment.

London will now be the first Olympic Games where all sports have both male and female participation.

The spin-off is that Ireland’s chances of winning gold have improved and, with the recommendation that rugby and golf also be included for the 2016 games, yesterday made for a hopeful day for Ireland’s future Olympians.

“I’m absolutely thrilled,” said Taylor. “This is a dream come true, not only for me, but for female boxers throughout the world who have worked so hard to gain Olympic status. Our sport has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years, and this decision has added a whole new dimension to the sport as we now have the chance to compete in the Olympic Games.”

The Olympic Council of Ireland, through its president Pat Hickey, also welcomed the decision. Mr Hickey, who is also president of the European Olympic Committees, had lobbied for the sport’s inclusion. “The great thing is the decision is in stone,” he said. “The good luck was that that court case in Canada was a stinging rebuke to the IOC. I know it was Katie’s dream to compete in the Olympics, and now it is certain that women’s boxing will be in London.”