Taylor through to Olympic final

Katie Taylor has qualified for tomorrow's Olympic Lightweight Final after she beat Mazvuna Chorieva 17-9 in their semi-final bout at the ExCel Arena in London.

The result means that she is now guaranteed at least a silver medal.

The final will be at 4.45pm tomorrow where she will fight Sofya Ochigava from Russia after she defeated Brazilian Adriana Araujo 17-11.

"Today was such a tricky fight, she was a great counter-fighter. I'm into an Olympic final, it's amazing," Taylor told RTE.

"I have to refocus now before tomorrow because it's going to be a completely different fight. The support here is incredible. I know I've the whole nation praying for me as well."

The four-time world champion's hometown of Bray in Co Wicklow came to a standstill for the contest, which was shown on two large screens on the main street.

Katie won the first round 3-1 before extending the gap to 7-3 at the midway point.

Chorieva tried her best to disrupt Taylor with some showboating but the greatest female boxer of all time made it 13-6 in the third round.

She also won the final round 4-3, sending the huge Irish presence in the arena into raptures.

Meanwhile, those who had hoped to watch the fight on RTE.ie's live player were left disappointed when it crashed shortly before 2pm.

Congrats Katie Taylor. She was world class. Atmosphere was electric. Great support. #TeamIreland pic.twitter.com/AFOsJ7gm

— Shay Given (@No1shaygiven) August 8, 2012

Pilot just announced Katie Taylor's victory and the plane has erupted with applause!! Congrats Katie, we all know how much you deserve it!

— Ryan O'Shaughnessy (@Ryan_Acoustic) August 8, 2012