My Olympic experience is hard to put into words. Since the age of 6, being the sports enthusiast that I was, I have dreamed of emulating my sporting heroes and being apart of a games. 21 years later, that dream came true. How do you put that into words?
Surprisingly for my 1st fight I actually slept well the night before, I don’t think Mike Tyson himself could have beaten me in that fight. I was victorious over a great competition in Queen Underwood (USA). That feeling was unreal, the crowd went mental, I spotted some of my scouse army exiting the arena to do an interview and embraced them. Interview done, the meeting with the rest of my family and friends was filled with hugs and kisses. Then back to the village to see who my next opponent was.
Katie Taylor (IRE) it was arguably the best female amateur boxer in the world, but I had already seen Agogo beat the world ranked no.2, Evans beat a competition that had beaten him twice before I new now was my time. We went over tactics and I was full optimism, I believed I could win. The bout came and boy was that a bout! I remember seeing a sea of green as they pulled back the curtain for my ring entrance. The noise was deafening, the atmosphere was immense and the bout didn’t disappoint either. Though I was distraught at not winning (cry for two days straight) I could live with myself knowing I’d done my best, I had nothing more to give in that fight, it was just ‘one of them things’. The mood was different meeting the family this time, I managed to keep it together through everything, the interviews, the drugs testing but as soon as my mum went to hug me I just broke down. It was emotional!
More emotional for me was witnessing my close friend and team captain Stalker going out the competition the next day. Again emotions were running high.
On the whole GB boxing and Team GB has an excellent Olympics and I was so proud to be apart of the team, knowing that I had earned the right to be there.
Games done, I have a month off, to be ‘normal’ as we say. Lots of meals, events but best of all my celebration home coming party, that I was tricked into attending. All my nearest, dearest and biggest team Tash fans and supporters all under one roof. Needless to say it was a fantastic night, full of food, drinks and dance moves. Also a highlight was getting a special plaque in my club (Rotunda ABC) for being apart of London 2012.
How do you motivate yourself to train again after and olympic games? The answer, it’s the norm and just your routine, but it is really bring yourself down from the high that is the Olympics, especially when there is no competition in the foreseeable feature. As our Europeans was cancelled, this was the case. We’re training just as intense as the men (who were involved in the World Series Boxing) but with no up and coming competition. This is hard, but I’m off travelling soon!
So me and my friend Ashlea have been planning a world trip since 2010. I had planned doing an 8 month tour but I new I couldn’t rake that time off training, so I revised that I would do just under 2 months. Ash had already been around India and we met up in Singapore. We did Bali, Lambok, Gilli Islands, Malaysia and Thailand. I had an amazing time and met some amazing people, saw wonderful sights and experiences of a lifetime activity wise. Rating: Awesome.
Back to the grind, back to camp I go. After two months off it was like I’ve never been to a gym. Hardwork getting back into a routine and training, but we have been told we’re going to Felix Stamm in Poland. Great competition, competitive wise but first one back after the Olympics. Even though I know I’m fit and have been training unbelievably hard in pre-season I know being fit and being fighting fit are two different things. However, I’m ready to brush off the ring rust and eager to get back in the ring!