Champ from school of hard knocks: From inner-city estate to Olympic podium, Nicola punches her way into history books

She almost gave up her sport because no one would sponsor her, forcing her to work on a building site and as a soap opera extra.
But yesterday Nicola Adams – who hails from the ‘school of hard knocks’ – became The History Woman as she became Britain’s first ever female Olympic boxing champion.
Described as a ‘mummy’s girl’ whose personality changes in the ring, Nicola, 29, triumphed against the world number one, China’s Cancan Ren, in a thrilling 16-7 victory.

Gold medal grin: Nicola Adams clutches her gold medal, Team GB's 24th of the 2012 Games

Joyous: Adams thanked supporters and said: 'I'm bringing that gold medal back to Leeds!'

Celebrating with a dance-move she later called ‘the Nicki shuffle,’ she received a standing ovation from the raucous crowd.
Last night Leroy Brown, who trained Adams when she was just 12, said growing up on the inner-city Burmantofts estate in Leeds had helped Adams develop a relentless drive to succeed.
‘What makes her so good is her determination in life. She took all the hard knocks in her life and she’s taken women forward. It’s just amazing,’ he said. ‘You saw history being created.’

 

Later, the 5ft 4in flyweight – who worked on Coronation Street and EastEnders – said winning gold was a ‘fairytale ending’.
She said she would celebrate with a trip to Nandos ‘for a Chicken pitta medium with chips’ – and by going home to see her beloved doberman, Dexter.
‘This is just like a dream come true,’ she said. ‘I have just wanted this all my life and I’ve worked so hard.’
She said the atmosphere in the stadium, where the crowd of spectators chanted ‘Nicola, Nicola’ throughout the match, had been ‘incredible’.

Smiling assassin: Adams is the first ever Olympic gold medal-winning woman boxer

‘All I could hear was people chanting my name,’ she said. ‘It meant so much. I was really trying to fight back the tears during the national anthem.

'Babyface': Nicola Adams, pictured at the age of seven

Asked if she thought the medal would change her, she smiled and said: ‘Gold medal? I’m still the normal Nicki that everyone knows, walking my dog.’
Miss Adams, known to her family as ‘Babyface’, grew up wanting to box. While other girls dreamed of being ballerinas and pop stars, she says: ‘I was watching Mohammed Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard, the old fighters get in the ring, and I dreamed one day I would do that.’
She had trouble persuading boxing trainer Fred Gummerson to let her fight when she first put on gloves at Burmantofts Amateur Boxing Club aged 11.
At 12, she started training with Mr Brown, who runs Sharky’s Boxing Academy in nearby Meanwood.
But she found it wasn’t easy to compete in a man’s world.
While she was doing her GCSEs, debate was still raging as to whether women should even be allowed to box.
Even once she had persuaded her family and her trainers to let her fight, there were few other girls for her to fight against.
Financially it was a struggle, too. For years her mother Dee, 52, who is divorced from Nicola’s father, tirelessly chased potential sponsors – but not a single person or company ever put up a penny.
When she turned 18, Miss Adams became the first woman boxer to represent England.

Gold! Britain's Nicola Adams celebrates after she's declared winner of her gold medal final against China's Ren Cancan

Floored: Adams, 29, from Leeds, floors Cancan with a killer blow during a dominant second round

Britain's Nicola Adams lands a blow on her Chinese opponent Ren Cancan during the 51kg final in London's Excel Centre

Baby Face: Adams is sprayed down in her corner between rounds

In 2007 she was the first to win a European boxing medal and the following year the first to win a World Championship medal.
But despite her success, she still couldn’t get funding, and took odd jobs on building sites and as a soap opera extra to get by.
Worse still, her career hung by a thread three years ago when a back injury left her bedridden for three months.
But she recovered from the injury, and finally won funding in 2009, when the International Olympic Committee backed women’s boxing for the first time.
Now Nicola, 29, receives £27,737 a year tax-free funding from UK Sport and drives a sponsor’s car.

Fight fan: Kate Middleton applauds Adams' victory from the crowd inside the Excel Centre

Fans in high places: Even Prime Minister David Cameron was glued to the TV in No.10, watching Nicola Adams in action

Dee Adams says her daughter ‘is totally different when she’s in the ring.’  At home, she says, ‘she is gentle in a way and she is a mummy’s girl and easy going’.
After watching her daughter win gold, she said: ‘I’m feeling absolutely fantastic. I’m just speechless right now. I’ve got a little glass of champers already and I’ll be having a few more!’
Mrs Adams said it had been ‘really tough’ for her daughter at times as a female boxer.
‘I thought, you know, she’s doing this for her country and she isn’t getting the recognition she deserves.
‘But now she has made history. It is amazing. I am just so proud of her.’