Taylor-made for gold

And so it begins.

The Olympic Games last night rolled into London, where boxer Katie Taylor prepared for shouldering the hopes of a nation by carrying the tricolour in the opening ceremony.

After a lavish and occasionally eccentric two-and-a-half hour ceremony featuring thousands of dancers and musicians, the athletes had their glimpse of the massive crowds that had gathered to cheer them on.

For the next fortnight, more than 10,490 athletes from 205 nations compete in 26 sports before the Games conclude on Aug 12.

But Taylor’s progress in London is the biggest Irish storyline of these Games. Yesterday she was handed a difficult draw in the lightweight division, with the Bray girl facing American starlet Queen Underwood or home favourite Natasha Jonas in the quarter-finals.

But such issues failed to dampen the smile on Taylor’s face as she led the Irish delegation in the 80,000-capacity stadium, with over 1bn more watching on television.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who represented Ireland at the opening ceremony, paid tribute to Taylor and all the Irish competitors in action over the next fortnight.

“For anyone to have the privilege of carrying the tricolour around in the Olympic opening ceremony is a memory to be treasured,” said Mr Kenny. “Leaving that aside, Katie Taylor is an outstanding young woman with an enormous talent and we wish her and the athletes the very best. I hope that there are some outstanding events and I hope that off the last bend we will see the green singlet come through on a number of occasions. This is what they were born for, to this point in their lives.

“There are hundreds of millions who would love to have the talent to be able to compete in any of those events. I wish them the best on behalf of the people of our country and hope they do us proud.”

Earlier in the morning, the Taoiseach spent over an hour meeting and greeting Irish athletes at a training base in St Mary’s University College, Strawberry Hill.

And he drew parallels between striving for success in sport and in politics. He explained: “In many ways this Olympics is not unlike politics; you have to believe in yourself and you have to have a sense of conviction and courage.

“And for any athletes going out on the track or competing in any event, I would say that they should say to themselves: ‘Just let me out there. I intend to prove a point.’

“I hope they will do their country proud and do themselves justice. I know they will.”