What a Knockout: Katie Taylor Leads Irish Athletes Into The Olympic Stadium

Can we just say, didn’t Katie Taylor look fantastic last night? The girl with the golden gloves grinned from ear-to-ear as she proudly led the Irish team at last night’s Olympic Games opening ceremony in London.

The Irish Daily Mirror reports that Katie, who was our flag bearer, was applauded by the Queen as she led her colleagues into the Olympic Stadium just after 11pm.

The 26 year old boxer, who is one of Ireland’s gold medal hopes, was chosen by Sonia O’Sullivan for the honour and she flashed a smile as she held up the Irish flag.

We have to admit, we’re slowly but surely coming down with a bad case of Olympic fever and after seeing the entire Irish team parading around the Stadium last night, our excitement for the games is growing at a rapid pace. Will you be cheering on the Irish squad?

Not a bad-looking bunch: the Irish Olympic Athletes.

Speaking just before the opening ceremony, Katie’s father and boxing coach Peter Taylor said that Katie was feeling cool and calm about flying the flag for Ireland.

“Katie’s in great form, she’s looking forward to this now. We’re here to win the competition, not just a medal. Every fight is a final, every fight is a gold medal fight. It will make no difference to us,” he said.

“We’ve decided to stay in London rather than return home before her first fight. We’re in the Athlete’s Village. It’s a little bit noisy but you’ve got to acclimatise to these things, you’ve got to adapt. It’s noisy for everybody,” he added.

Katie is sharing her digs with the female swimmers Grainne Murphy, Sycerika McMahon and Melanie Nocher.

However, not everyone knew who Katie was before she arrived.

“I only ever saw a picture of her two months ago when I Googled her,” admitted Melanie Nocher.

“Someone said she was a gold medal prospect. Everyone was like ‘she doesn’t look like a boxer,’ so I was like, ‘I must Google this and see,’” she added.

Katie may not look like boxer, but one thing is for sure – she definitely knows how to throw down when she’s in the ring.