London Olympics: Claressa Shields wins gold in women's boxing - latimes.com By Bill Dwyre
9:54 AM PDT, August 9, 2012
LONDON -- Youth prevailed and Claressa Shields won the first boxing gold medal for the United States since the Atlanta Olympics 16 years ago. She won one of the three inaugural Olympic women’s boxing divisions Thursday, beating a woman nearly twice her age, 33-year-old Russian Nadezda Torlopova, in the 75-kilogram division. The final score for the 17-year old boxer from Flint, Mich., was a decisive 19-12.
The last gold medal in boxing for the U.S. was David Reid’s.
Katie Taylor, the 19-year-old Irish woman who has stolen the show at women’s boxing, had a tough battle for her gold medal in the 60-kilogram weight class, but eked it out with smart boxing. She beat Russian lefty Sofya Ochigava, 10-8, with a decisive 4-1 second round.
She danced in the ring afterward and paraded with the Irish flag as the hugely partisan Irish crowd shook the entire arena.
In the first-ever women’s Olympic boxing final, Great Britain got a nice surprise in the 51-kilogram division with yet another gold medal. It came when second-seeded Nicola Adams clearly outfought China’s defending world champion, Cancan Ren. The final score was 16-7.
Adams called her victory “a dream come true,” and added, “I’m so overwhelmed with joy right now.”
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