Memorable weekend sees nine British boxers off to Rio

But if last week's European Olympic qualifying event is anything to go by, Rio 2016 could be even more of a banner Olympic Games in the ring as nine Brits booked their place in South America in style – Nicola Adams, Galal Yafai, Qais Ashfaq, Muhammad Ali, Joe Cordina, Josh Buatsi, Lawrence Okolie, Joe Joyce and Antony Fowler.

Heading into the event in Samsun, Turkey, the men knew that a top-three finish would see them claim a named place at Rio, while coming in the top two was the requirement for the women to earn the same.

That ensured that Friday's semi-finals would be pressure-filled for the nine Brits still remaining in the competition and they stepped up admirably with eight of the nine reserving their places on the plane to Rio with victory.

One of the three British Olympic gold medallists from four years ago, Adams, opened up proceedings and showed her compatriots the way by convincingly beating Marielle Hansen of Norway in the semi-final.

And the 33-year-old, who will now try to become Team GB's first boxer to defend an Olympic title since Harry Mallin in 1924, was understandably over the moon at taking the first step to doing that.

"I'm absolutely overwhelmed. I'm no longer on the road to Rio – I'm going to Rio and it's an amazing feeling," said Adams.

"It's the first step to defending my title – I can't wait. The job isn't done yet, hopefully I can become a European champion, World champion and Olympic champion all in one year.

"I always have to give everything for every competition. It's nice to think I'm doing it for my country and let's go and get that gold in Rio."

Seemingly buoyed by Adams' success, Team GB's male boxers also began to secure their places in Rio as light flyweight Yafai, bantamweight Ashfaq and flyweight Ali all won their semi-finals in the afternoon session.

Neither Yafai, whose older brothers Gamal and Kal are professional boxers, nor Ali, whose namesake is one of the greatest pugilists of all time, let the weight of their names hinder them and will now have a golden opportunity to carve a memorable legacy of their own in Brazil.

They were far from the only male success stories on Friday as the British qualifiers for Rio continued to flow – lightweight Cordina and light heavyweight Buatsi rubber-stamping their Olympic places with decision victories.

Heavyweight Okolie brushed off his international inexperience that saw him number just 23 fights heading into the semi-final to outclass his opponent before backflipping 6ft 5in super heavyweight Joyce became the eighth Brit to qualify.

However, there was a set-back for middleweight Fowler as he lost a decision to Frenchman Christian Mbilli Assomo of France but would have one more opportunity to seal his Olympic spot in Saturday's third-fourth place box-off.

And this time, one of the British team's most popular and personable characters made no mistake – defeating Xhek Paskali of Germany to seal the deal, leaving the 25-year-old to try to come to terms with what he had just accomplished.

"It is amazing. I cannot describe the feeling," said Fowler. "Qualifying for the Olympics is amazing; I can't believe it.

"My heart was pumping all day because I knew that this was the best chance I would get.

"The lad was a good opponent but I knew that I could beat him and I gave it everything that I could in that ring.

"He was a strong competitor and he came at me with everything that he had and massive respect to him because he pushed me to my limits."

With Olympic qualification secured, Team GB's boxers turned their attention to claiming gold in the weekend's finals with six of them – Adams, Yafai, Ali, Buatsi, Okolie and Joyce – doing just that.

Cordina and Ashfaq had to settle for silver but GB Boxing performance director Rob McCracken had nothing but positive things to say about his troops' achievements in Turkey.

"To have come away from such a difficult tournament with nine boxers qualified for Rio is a fantastic achievement." said McCracken.

"The boxers have acquitted themselves superbly and fully deserve to be rewarded for all of their hard work and dedication by getting the chance to compete on the biggest stage of all at the Olympic Games.

"To be in a position where we have qualified nine boxers for Rio at this stage in the Olympic cycle is a superb achievement by the whole team."

The only remaining weight classes where Team GB has yet to qualify a boxer for Rio are the men's light-welterweight and welterweight divisions and the women's lightweight and middleweight categories.

The women have another chance to qualify at the World Championships in Kazakhstan in May while the men will have two more opportunities at qualification events in June (Baku, Azerbaijan) and July (location to be confirmed).

Sportsbeat 2016