Ireland’s Olympic golden girl Katie Taylor says the whole journey was worth it

Sacrifices pay off for gold medal Olympian despite giving up social life

Taylor has undoubtedly moved the sport of boxing into the forefront in Ireland, and hopes she has inspired other Irish women to get involved with it. She hopes the Irish Sports Council will help maintain the popularity she had a hand in it gaining.

“‘I wouldn’t be here if it hadn’t been for the funding I received over the last few years’, she says. ‘And as a result of that funding I have been able to train as a full-time athlete.”

“Hopefully the young girls who will have watched the Olympics and have an interest in boxing will be inspired to take up the sport and become Olympic champions themselves – but they need to get the funding.”

Taylor went on, “Because women’s boxing is here to stay at the Olympics and when the hype has died down and it is back to looking at the next championships, we need to make sure that the money is there to look after the next generation.”

Both Katie and her equally ecstatic mother Bridget Taylor are still overwhelmed and deeply touched by the characteristic Irish support.

“I knew the support was going to be good. I just didn’t realise it was going to be like this. To have the entire island of Ireland shouting for you – and Kate Middleton – is just overwhelming.”

“The fans,” said Katie’s mother Bridget, “when we arrived on Monday for her first bout and I got off the train at Custom House – there was just this sea of green. We’re just ecstatic, we keep crying every time we think of it, we’re just an ordinary family, there’s just such a sense of elation as a family, we’re so proud of her.”

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Nster.com