BOXING:TEARFUL Katie Taylor said reaching the Olympic Games was "a dream come true" after she qualified for London with a walkover at the AIBA World Women's Championships in the Qinhuangdao resort town in China.
“It’s a dream come true, I just can’t believe it really. It’s been years and years of hard work, and years and years to get here. I want to thank everyone for all the prayers over the last few weeks,” said the 25-year-old lightweight fighter from Bray.
She had been scheduled to meet Michaela Lacatus in the quarter-finals but the Romanian pulled out due to a neck injury, handing Taylor a bye into the semi-finals. She is now two fights away from a fourth consecutive world title.
Because of regional quotas, the Olympic qualification process is fairly arcane, but Taylor got through after one of the other four European boxers in the last eight lost her bout earlier in the day, leaving it open for her to claim one of the three automatic spots for Europeans at the London Games.
“I’ll enjoy this victory – well I don’t know if victory is the right word, it was a walkover. I need to focus on the next fight, the semi-final of the world championships,” she said, referring to tomorrow’s bout. Taylor, who is Ireland’s best hope of an Olympic gold medal since the 1996 Games in Atlanta, has done much to raise the profile of Ireland in Qinhuangdao. She has had a strong tournament, earlier this week putting in a convincing performance to stop Saida Khassenova from Kazakhstan in the fourth round.
With a view to the line-up at the London Games, there are still wild cards being handed out. Taylor said it was crucial they went to the best competitors to give women’s boxing a great platform.
“There are still a few wild cards being given out and it’s important that they give them out to the best boxers out there, the likes of Chen Dong [of China] and Queen Underwood [of the US],” she said.
“There are so many great boxers out there and we need to showcase the best boxers. Everyone needs to see the best female talent and I hope they make the right decisions,” said Taylor.
Asked if she thought this was the best moment of her career so far, she said: “We’ll see at the end of the week if I retain the world title. It’s important to go into the Olympics as a crowned world champion as well, so that’s going to be a huge motivation as well.”
Her father and coach Peter, a former Irish amateur boxing champion, said it had been a “long journey for us to get here, and the chance to be an Olympian”. Asked if he was proud of his daughter he laughed and said: “I was proud of her long before this.”
Katie Taylor’s semi-final will be broadcast live on RTÉ Two at 8am tomorrow.
