Nicola Adams

From a young age, Nicola Adams started attending the gym with her mother in order to keep fit. It wasn’t long before she was in her first boxing session, and quickly realized her love for the sport. At age 13, Nicola knew she wanted to someday win an Olympic Gold medal for boxing, something which at the time was not a possible category for women to compete in at the games. The teen attended a selection camp for the England team in 2001 and trained alongside renowned boxer David Haye. Nicola became the first woman to represent England later in 2001, before becoming the English amateur champion for the first time in 2003. In 2007 and 2008, Nicola won medals at the European Championships and World Championships, demonstrating to everybody that she was on the rise and wasn’t going to stop.

Prior to focusing on her dreams of winning Olympic Gold, Nicola spent time working as a builder and was even an extra in popular soaps such as Eastenders and Coronation Street. At the time before women’s boxing was added to the Olympics, Nicola notes how difficult it was to train, with women having to find their own facilities and struggling to find coaches who would take them.