Olympic champion Nicola Adams admitted the scale of what she achieved yesterday was still sinking in.

The Haringey Community Police Club fighter picked up the gold medal in the women’s 51kg flyweight division with a hugely impressive victory over number one seed Ren Cancan of China.

She won the bought by a score of 16-7 and even knocked her opponent down during the contest.

It was not only a monumental moment in the Leeds-based star’s career, but also in the sport of women’s boxing.

London 2012 saw women compete in the sport for the first time at Olympic level, meaning Adams was the first ever female to win Olympic boxing gold.

And the 29-year-old was still trying to take it all in last night.

“It is still all sinking in. I still can’t believe what I have achieved today. It is definitely a childhood dream come true,” she explained.

“I can’t believe the support I have had in the crowd, at home and on Twitter. It has been absolutely amazing.

“All I wanted to do was get this gold medal for Great Britain and for Leeds.”

And on that crowd backing, she added: “It was absolutely amazing.

“It made the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. I was trying to absorb it in and use it to my advantage to fuel me on and go further.”

With women’s boxing making its Olympic debut this year, only three weight divisions were included in the programme.

But Adams is hopeful this could change going forward in order to allow more to compete on the greatest sporting stage.

She continued: “I think it would be good to get a few more weight classes in there.

“It was a shame really that if you couldn’t make one of the three weights, you had to miss out. Hopefully there will be more weight divisions next time.”

And as for what’s next for the new Olympic champion: “2016! But before that, a holiday!”