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British boxing trailblazer Natasha Jonas retires from sport British boxing trailblazer Natasha Jonas retires from sport
(35 minutes later)
Natasha Jonas, the first female boxer to represent Great Britain in an Olympic Games, has announced her retirement. The 30-year-old from Liverpool made history when she took on the eventual gold medallist Katie Taylor of Ireland in the first round of the women’s lightweight competition at London 2012. Natasha Jonas, the first British woman to box at the Olympics, in London three years ago, has retired from the sport at 30 after a string of injuries.
Jonas, a former world and European bronze medallist, said: “It just felt like the right time to retire. Being away from camp to recover from my recent injury has given me time to think and I just came to the conclusion that I did not want to go back to the demands of full-time training. The Liverpudlian with a smile that could light up a stadium, has dabbled in acting and TV work, and said on Tuesday: “I have no idea what I will do now but I do have a few interests outside of the sport. It will be nice to not have to get up and run at 6 o’clock every morning.
“When I started boxing 10 years ago I was an overweight, unemployed scally from Toxteth and if you’d have told me then that I would win a world championship medal and compete in front of 10,000 people at the Olympic Games I would never have believed it, so I am very proud to have achieved those things and done so well in the sport. “Boxing is an extremely tough sport and very few people ever see the training and hard work that goes into it. After doing it for a long time, I decided that it was time to do something else. Being away from camp to recover from my recent injury has given me time to think and I came to the conclusion that I did not want to go back to the demands of full-time training.
“I have been to some great places, had some amazing experiences and being able to share them with such a fantastic group of people is something I will treasure for ever.” “When I started boxing 10 years ago I was an overweight, unemployed scally from Toxteth and, if you’d have told me then that I would win a world championship medal and compete in front of 10,000 people at the Olympic Games, I would never have believed it.”
Despite losing her bout with Taylor, Jonas was widely praised for her performance in front of a crowd which registered the loudest noise of any event at the 2012 Games at 113.7 decibels. Jonas was a five-time national champion and, in July 2012, she created Olympic and British sporting history when she beat the American Quinatta Underwood in the first bout of the women’s competition. She lost in the quarter-final to the eventual gold medallist, Katie Taylor of Ireland, in a contest which registered the loudest crowd noise of any event at London 2012 at 113.7 decibels.
Her Great Britain team-mate and Olympic champion, Nicola Adams, said: “I have trained, competed and travelled all over the world with Natasha for the last five years so will be really sad to see her leave. Jonas won lightweight bronze at the 2012 world championships in China, light-welterweight bronze at the 2011 European Championships and light-welterweight silver at the same tournament in 2014.
“Over the years she has been a brilliant campaigner for the sport and has done so much to progress women’s boxing in this country. She was the first woman to ever box for Great Britain, the first to qualify for the Olympics and the first to box at the Games, so she has achieved a lot and been a great ambassador for the sport. She will be missed by all of the team.” Her friend and team-mate, the Olympic flyweight gold medallist Nicola Adams, said: “I have trained, competed and travelled all over the world with Natasha for the last five years so will be really sad to see her leave.”
Robert McCracken, the GB performance director, said: “Tash will always be welcome to visit our gym and spend time with our boxers to pass on her knowledge and experience and provide them with an insight into what it takes to win medals at major international tournaments and become an Olympian.”