Nicola Adams OBE (born 26 October 1982) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2017 to 2019. She retired with an undefeated record and held the WBO female title in 2019. As an amateur, she became the first female boxer to become an Olympic champion after winning gold at 2012, and the first double Olympic champion following a second gold medal at Rio 2016, both in the flyweight division. As of 27 May 2016, she was the reigning Olympic, World and champion at flyweight, and won the entire set of amateur championships available to her – Olympic, Commonwealth and European Games' titles, and the World, European and European Union championships.

Adams represented Haringey Police Community Club at . She is openly lesbian and was named the most influential LGBT person in Britain by in 2012 and has been included in the annual , recognition as one of the most influential people of African/African-Caribbean descent in the UK. She also became the first openly LGBT person to win an Olympic boxing Gold medal, after her win at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Adams was born in , West . She was educated at Agnes Stewart Church of High School, Ebor Gardens, Leeds. She also went to Hopwood Hall College in .

Amateur career

Adams fought (and won) her first bout at the age of 13, but it was four years before she found a second opponent. In 2001, she became the first woman boxer ever to represent England, in a fight against an Irish boxer. In 2003, she became English amateur champion for the first time, and she retained the title at the next three championships.

In 2007, Adams was the first English female to win a medal in a major tournament, taking Silver in the bantamweight (54kg) division at the European Championships in Denmark. She won Silver again at the world championships in Ningbo, , in 2008. The following year she had to abstain from the sport for several months due to a back injury, but she returned to success at the 2010 world championships in Bridgetown, Barbados, taking Silver again, competing now at flyweight (51kg). Adams struggled to continue her boxing career due to lack of funds. She worked as an acting extra on soap operas such as , , and EastEnders, and worked as a builder before the International Olympic Committee backed funding for women's boxing in 2009. In November 2010, Adams was victorious in the first ever GB Championship at the Echo Arena Liverpool. In the 2012 Summer Olympics, Adams defeated from India in the Flyweight semi-final. She went on to defeat Chinese boxer and world number one in the final to claim the first Olympic women's boxing Gold medal. At the 2016 Rio Adams successfully defended her Olympic title, defeating Sarah Ourahmoune of France in the Final on 20 August.

Professional career

On 23 January 2017 it was confirmed that Adams had turned professional, having signed with promoter Frank Warren. She made her debut on 8 April, scoring a four-round points decision victory against Virginia Carcamo at the Arena.

She was scheduled to challenge for the full world title on 8 March 2019 against reigning WBO female flyweight champion Arely Muciño at the in London. However, the fight was postponed after Adams sustained an injury during training and was forced to withdraw. After Muciño suffered an injury during a successful defence of her title in April followed by an ankle injury sustained in a car crash, the WBO announced that Adams had been elevated from interim to full WBO champion in July 2019 due to Muciño being unable to "participate in active competition".

Retirement

During the first round of her fight with Salinas, Adams suffered a torn pupil. She initially thought it to be a minor injury. In an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live Adams said, "I didn't think it would be anything too serious, but I had torn the pupil in my eye. I got the injury in the first round of my last fight [against Maria Salinas]. I phoned the doctors a couple of days afterwards. I could take the chance and keep boxing and hope nothing would happen to my eye or an unlucky punch could mean I lose my sight."

She announced her retirement on 6 November 2019 in an open letter in the Yorkshire Evening Post, saying, "I’m immensely honoured to have represented our country – to win double Olympic gold medals and then the WBO championship belt is a dream come true… But it’s not without taking its toll on my body, and aside from the expected aches and pains - I’ve been advised that any further impact to my eye would most likely lead to irreparable damage and permanent vision loss."

In April 2021, Nicola joined fellow British Olympians and , and fitness instructor Mr Motivator in launching the ‘Energy Fit for the Future’ campaign by Smart Energy GB, which aimed at encouraging people to install smart meters in their homes.