Following her gold medal performance at the 2015 European Games, Katie Taylor has been selected as the best female athlete of the tournament at the ANOC awards in Washington.
The award comes as Taylor strives to extend her number of successive World Elite titles to six next May, which would equal the all-time record held by Cuban boxer Felix Savon.
The Bray woman, who now has 18 major titles to her credit including Olympic honours, was presented with the award yesterday evening at the DAR Constitution Hall.
Addressing the crowd, Taylor said:
I’m just so honoured and humbled to receive this award. I’d like to thank ANOC for such a great evening and I’d like to thank the Olympic Council of Ireland and Pat Hickey for their continuous support. I’d also like to thank my family. Their support and encouragement throughout the years has been unfailing to me. I’d be nowhere without them. This is just the icing on the cake for me this year.
The 2016 Women's World Elite Championships were originally scheduled to take place in January but the International Boxing Association have changed the starting dates to May, citing logistical issues as the reason for the switch.
This means that Taylor will have to wait an additional four months to defend her World Lightweight crown in Astana, Kazakhstan.
[RTÉ]
