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London 2012: Introducing... Adam Nolan

Our athlete-by-athlete guide sizes up Wexford’s medal hope.

Adam Nolan with his gold medal in Trabzon. ©INPHO/Cathal Noonan

Event: Boxing 69KG

Who is he? The 25-year-old welterweight hails from Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford. The southpaw is a garda you won’t be messing with and he fights out of Bray, the same club as one Katie Taylor.

Road to London: As you can see in the picture, he is Ireland’s gold medal winner from the hotly contested Olympic qualifying tournament in Turkey.

With his London place already secured after a semi-final win, he went into the final against Patrick Wojcicki and narrowly beat the German after the level scores were recounted. Straightforward, right?

What he says about himself: In an interview with the Irish Independent he said: “To be honest, the Olympics were the last thing on my mind. Because I still had to come through the national seniors. The four fights I had in Ireland were every bit as hard as what I had in Turkey”

He later added:”I’m happy just to be an Olympian. But as it gets closer I know I’ll want to win a fight. Then another fight. Then I’ll say, ‘Jesus, if I win this one I’ll have a chance of a medal’. That’s the way it goes. You’re just never happy.”

What they’re saying on the internet: “Adam is deceptively good. Tall, rangey, wicked fast left hand, which is straight as an arrow. He will be a tough fight for any man in London.” WalshB (boards.ie)

Medal chances: As he says himself, winning the national and Olympic qualifying titles could prove tougher than many of the opponents he meets in London.

However, he has come from relative obscurity to this point over recent months and the result is that he will be unseeded when the draw is made later this month.

Still, with a gold already tucked away from Turkey he knows what it takes to up his game at the right moment. Four thumbs up from Jimmy.

On the Twitter: Unfortunately not, suppose it’s best for a man in his line of work.

If you meet him in a bar, ask him about… his hurling with Oulart The Ballagh. When the boxing is over he plans to return and swap his soft helmet for a hard one.

If he was a YouTube video he would be... no contest.

YouTube credit: ness1tn

Read more of TheScore’s “London 2012: Introducing” series here >

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