‘Dream come true’ as golden-girl Taylor books London ticket

The anxiety surrounding her Olympic qualification was dispelled when Katie Taylor arrived at the stadium in Qinhuangdao for her quarter-final bout yesterday and was informed her opponent, Mihaela Lacatus, had conceded a walk over.

The 30-year-old Romanian, world champion at bantamweight in 2005, injured her neck in Tuesday’s 17-14 victory over Bulgarian, Denista Eliseeva, and was forced to withdraw.

While it guaranteed Taylor a bronze medal, it still did not guarantee Olympic selection with four Europeans still standing in the lightweight division and only three to go to London.