Jumping for joy: Adams was all smiles after her stunning victory in the flyweight final
That's mine: Adams shows off her medal on the podium after her comprehensive victory
Proud on top: Adams stands on the podium after easing to her triumph on home soil
Down and out: Ren Cancan was sent to the canvas by the unstoppable Adams
Royal approval: The Duchess of Cambridge watched the bout as Adams triumphed
Our Nicola did not so much make a statement yesterday afternoon as a command, defying the doubters to refuse a place in the permanent pantheon of the Games to women's boxing.
She did so with a performance against a world champion which was not only stupendous but which in terms of both Olympic and social significance surpasses even the poster-girl brilliance of Jessica Ennis.
At 28, with so little funding that she was financially dependent on her modest family and coming up to her third month confined to bed with a back injury, Adams was on the brink of giving up on her dream.
The sudden admission of her sport to London 2012 saved her, not only for herself but the country. But when the ultimate reward came in the Thames Docklands it changed her not one iota.
Where the lovely and loveable Jess has been nightclubbing with the capital's A-list celebrities, the admirable and adorable Nicky had this to say when asked how she would celebrate last night: 'I'm going out with the old man and the family to … Nando's.'
Bless her.
Above all rejoice with her in the triumph of the daughter of a humble immigrant family who has reached up to touch the stars and in so doing has shown millions like her that nothing is impossible if you have the heart of a lioness and the stomach for hard work.
Confidence: Adams was all smiles as she walked to the ring in front of the home fans
Easy street: Nicola Adams proved too strong for China's Ren Cancan at the ExCel
If there has been anything more uplifting in these two weeks of endeavour thus far then you will have to show me again on the video.
Yet there were no mawkish tears, no maudlin collapses. Just delight unconfined, exuberance held in modest restraint by satisfaction with a job supremely well done.That smile never seemed to stop shining, not even during the four rounds of hand-to-hand combat.
From the first bell of this, the first female final, Adams was too quick, too sharp, too brim-full of belief for China's hitherto omnipotent Ren Cancan. Her non-stop aggression was a nightmare for her opponent and the points piled up in the British corner as Ren was knocked down in a heap by a clinically executed left-right combination in the second round.
'I didn't see that coming,' grinned Adams. 'I was just thinking about becoming Olympic champion.' By then, so were we all and the final tally of 16-7 could have been wider.Ren got up to take the eight count and fought on but Adams certainly canned Cancan. So dominant was Adams that in the last seconds before the final bell she indulged in an Ali Shuffle.
'They'll have to call it the Nicky Shuffle now,' she joked, laughing now. That was one crowning moment. Then came another.
Take that: Adams was simply too strong for her opponent at the ExCel on Thursday
Feel the force: Cancan had no answer to the power from Adams
Packing a punch: Adams was delighted after making history at the Olympics
Daily Mail
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