It’s a very proud day today for Irish sport, after Olympic boxing champion Katie Taylor rose to the challenge to qualify for the Olympic Games in Rio, this coming August.
The 29-year-old Bray native defeated Mexican Victoria Torres in the quarter-finals of the AIBA World Championships, in Kazakhstan, to join six other Irish boxers at the Games.
While her spot on the Olympic team has now been secured, Taylor also progresses through to the semi-finals of the Championships, to face France’s Estelle Mossely.
Honored to be representing Ireland in another Olympics. It really is a dream come true. The support from everyone has been incredible!
— Katie Taylor (@KatieTaylor) May 24, 2016
There was a lot riding on today’s fight, following the disappointment of last month, when Taylor lost out on an automatic place at the Rio Games after defeat by Yana Alexseevna.
Taylor admitted to RTÉ Sport that today’s qualification is ‘a weight off her shoulders’, and she took to Twitter to express her delight over the chance to compete at Rio.
“Honoured to be representing Ireland in another Olympics. It really is a dream come true. The support from everyone has been incredible,” she wrote.
Well done, Katie; we didn’t doubt you for a second!
