Guaranteed medal for boxing champ Adams

THE queen of the Olympic ring showed that she has not been partying with all the British athletes whose Games finished before hers started by adding at least a bronze medal to her London gold. Just as well. The ring rust on Nicola Adams had accumulated during a month spent in Rio waiting for the defence of the first Olympic boxing title ever won by a woman. If she had been her usual sharp self our Olympic, world, European and Commonwealth flyweight champion would have sailed to victory against an opponent as limited as Ukraine’s Tetyana Kob. Instead Adams made hard work of her early-morning start in the Riocentro. She did enough to lay claim to her team’s second medal here but the judges were a mite generous in awarding her a unanimous decision. In a sport decided by the opinion of others, widespread popularity can be a help. Miss Adams, MBE, is a wonderful ambassador not only for her country but for women’s boxing and there will be relief that she got enough of her act together to progress to tomorrow’s semi-final. Never anything less than honest, she said: ‘I’m glad to get that one out of the way. She was a tough, aggressive opponent and I needed that to shake off the ring rust. ‘It has been a long wait. I just kept focused on my boxing and relaxed with my PlayStation.’ This opening bout was an important loosener before her semi-final with China’s Cancan Ren, whom she knocked down on her way to that famous victory in 2012. Ren was a convincing winner against Canada’s Mandy Bujold but Adams has the psychological advantage of that golden victory.