McCracken selects seven potential women's medal winners for London 2012

morethanthegames.co.uk26th March, 2010

OLYMPIC BOW: Women's boxing will makes its Olympic debut at London 2012 and British Boxing performance director Rob McCracken and his coaching staff have identified seven potential medal winners

For the first time in Olympic history, the 2012 Games will feature three women's boxing categories at 51kg, 60kg and 75kg.

Among the seven named by McCracken, the current trainer of WBC Super Middleweight champion Carl Froch, and his coaching staff are Nicola Adams, the first British woman to reach the World Championship podium, collecting silver in Ningbo, China in 2008.

The squad was selected following an extensive six-month assessment that looked at nearly 100 female boxers from England, Scotland and Wales and all seven will receive funding and train at the English Institute of Sport (EIS) in Sheffield under McCracken's guidance.

"We have conducted a long and extensive assessment process and I am confident we have identified the best individuals with the most medal potential," said McCracken.

"All seven women have done brilliantly to be selected from such a strong pool of talent but the challenge now is to improve and move on to the next level.

"This is not a closed shop and all of the squad need to work hard and keep improving to maintain their place. Those that missed out on selection can still come into consideration for 2012 if they train hard and do well in competitions over the next 12 months."

Lucy O'Connor, 31, a naval officer based in Portsmouth, clinched won gold at the EU Championships in 2008 and has a world ranking of five.

On her selection she said: "It is a dream come true to be selected for the squad but it is now when the hard work really starts.

"This will be the only chance I ever get to compete at the Olympic Games so I am going to train hard, learn from the coaches and do everything I can to be part of the team for 2012."

While four-time ABA champion and 2009 EU Championships gold medallist Natasha Jonas, who will compete at 60kg in the build-up to London 2012 cannot wait to make history.

"It is an amazing feeling to be selected for the elite women's programme and makes all of the hard work and sacrifices worthwhile," she said.

"The possibility of making history and becoming one of the first women to compete in my sport in the Olympics games is a brilliant opportunity and I am going to do everything I can to make it a reality."

The squad will be based at the EIS in Sheffield where they will have fortnightly training camps with the GB Boxing coaches and performance team which includes a nutritionist, a psychologist, a physiotherapist and video analyst.

British Boxing has undergone a major overhaul since the Beijing Olympics where James DeGale collected gold and David Price and Tony Jeffries won bronze in Great Britain's most successful performance in 56 years under the stewardship of Terry Edwards.

Since then, in a restructuring move, the British Amateur Boxing Association was set up with chairman Derek Mapp appointing Kevin Hickey as performance director, while Edwards did not have his contract renewed.

Hickey lasted just eight months, citing personal reasons for his departure last September, which came less than a week after Great Britain returned from the World Championships in Milan empty-handed.

Boxing was handed £8.02m funding in the build-up to London 2012 - a 60 per cent increase on their Beijing coffers - and despite such recent turmoil, UK Sport chief executive John Steele believes that with operations centralised in Sheffield under McCracken, the sport is moving in the right direction.

"The National Centre in Sheffield is not a brand new facility but they have created a new ambience there which is inspirational for boxers," said Steele.

Boxing is unrecognisable from two years ago but there is still a long way to go. They need to start to win and win big to underline their potential."

The seven members of the women's Great Britain squad are:

51kg, Flyweight

Nicola Adams, 27, Haringey Police Community Club, Leeds

Lucy O'Connor, 31, Royal Navy Boxing Team, Portsmouth

Nina Smith, 27, Chadwell St Mary ABC, Grays, Essex

60kg, Lightweight

Amanda Coulson, 27, Hartlepool Catholic Boxing Club, Hartlepool

Natasha Jonas, 25, Rotunda ABC, Liverpool

Ruth Raper, 19, Haringey Police Community Club, London

75kg, Middleweight

Savannah Marshall, 18, Hartlepool Headland ABC, Hartlepool