RIO DE JANEIRO: Nicola Adams said she wants to inspire more children, especially girls, to get involved in sport after making history by winning a second Olympic boxing title.
The 33-year-old Briton was the first woman to win a boxing gold medal at the Games in London four years ago.
And on Saturday she became the first Briton since 1924 to win back to back boxing gold medals at the Games.
There have been many rumours that she will finally turn professional, but Adams, who refused to comment about her future, has grander plans than her own personal goals.
"There's definitely an air of fulfilment there but there's still a lot more that can be done," she said after winning Olympic, world and Europan titles in the same year.
"I'd love to inspire some more kids to get involved in boxing and in sport in general, and hopefully them seeing this again the second time around will inspire some more kids to get involved in sport."
She says that she's been doing that since her London triumph, in particular amongst girls.
"There's been a lot more girls getting involved in boxing now and the depth of competition's been getting stronger and stronger every time," added Adams, who earnt a unanimous decision over France's Sarah Ourahmoune in the Rio final.
"In my weight division there was only me and (Chinese bronze medallist Ren) Cancan that went to the last Games and all the other opponents were new.
"That just shows the strength of the competition now and it's going to get better and better all the time."
Adams couldn't hold back the tears on the podium and later said this victory was even more moving for her than the one on home soil four years ago.
"This time around it was definitely a lot more emotional. I really wanted to win this medal and it was hard to fight back the tears when I was on the podium.
"I think everybody that knows me knows that I don't cry very easily, so for me to be shedding a tear on the podium was definitely an emotional moment."
And it was the culmination of four years of graft to achieve her every dream that brought out Adams's soft side.
"I wanted to create history, I wanted to become a world champion as well.
"I wanted the full set, and to think I've been able to do everything in one year: Europeans, worlds and Olympic champion all in the same year is unbelievable," she said.
Comments
Comments are closed.