Leeds boxing star Adams will fight on for Brazilian gold

The 29-year-old amateur from Leeds, who became the first woman in history to win an Olympic boxing title at London 2012 last week, is to resist overtures to turn professional.

Flyweight gold medallist Adams wants another slice of history in 2016 as the first woman to successfully defend her Olympic title. Adams said: “I am definitely going for Rio in 2016. I want to be the double Olympic champion.”

Rob McCracken, the performance director of the Sheffield-based British boxing squad, believes the rest of his London 2012 medal winners will follow Adams’s lead, especially with changes set to be made to the amateur code which will allow for a certain degree of professionalism.

Hull’s Luke Campbell won gold in the bantamweight division, while Fred Evans (welterweight) claimed silver and Anthony Ogogo (middleweight) a bronze.

Olympic super heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua will be a big draw for professional suitors, given the lack of star names in the high-profile division.

But McCracken insists the core of his squad will stay together and be ready to fight again for glory in Rio.

“Right now, they all need a few weeks off,” he said. “They need a breather. But we’ll look at Brazil and move the team on. We will be keeping the majority of the squad together.

“It is up to them what they want to do but they are youngsters and don’t have to rush into anything.

“Me? I’d like to see them go on to Brazil.”

Adams’s success in the Olympics is expected to prompt a large uptake in women’s boxing from young people.

According to figures from Sport England, the number of women participating in boxing (non-contact and competitive) has risen steadily over the last four years.

Nearly 20,000 currently participate in boxing at least once a week and 30,000 women once every four weeks. There are 1,849 female amateur boxing club members in England and the number of registered female boxers in Great Britain has risen from 70 in 2005 to more than 1,000 in 2011.

Richard Caborn, president of the Amateur Boxing Association of England, said: “Participation, by both males and females, has been on the rise for some time, but I believe that over the next 12 months we will witness the ‘Adams effect’ among young women who will be inspired after watching Nicola win in such fantastic style.

“The Olympics has provided a shop window for the sport and many people that have never seen women’s boxing have now seen for themselves what a fantastic sport it is and what brilliant role models we have in Nicola, Savannah Marshall and Natasha Jonas.”

Olympic shot put gold medallist Nadzeya Ostapchuk has been stripped of her title after failing a doping test.

The Belarus athlete tested positive for anabolic agent metenolone during in-competition testing on August 5 and 6 and has been disqualified from the final results. Gold now goes to Valerie Adams (New Zealand), with Evgeniia Kolodko (Russia) taking silver and Lijiao Gong (China) bronze.