GB name female boxers

The first ever women to represent Great Britain at boxing at the Olympics have been confirmed as Nicola Adams, Savannah Marshall and Natasha Jonas.

The trio join Anthony Ogogo and Josh Taylor as the five latest names confirmed by the BOA as team GB members, with women's boxing making its Olympic debut in 2012.

Britain has its biggest ever boxing team in London, with ten athletes stepping into the ring, and big things are expected from the female trio as much as their male counterparts.

Middleweight Marshall is Britain's first ever women's World Boxing Champion, while Adams is GB's most decorated female boxer with three world silver medals and a European gold.

27-year-old Jonas has already made history twice as the first women to box in the Great Britain vest in November 2009 and the first ever British female to achieve the qualifying standard for the Olympic.

Names

"I am delighted to welcome five further boxers to Team GB, including the first ever women boxers," said GB Chef de Mission Andy Hunt. "The talent within the squad of ten boxers is extremely exciting: many of them have won medals at World or European Championships and I am sure they will be looking to continue their success on the Olympic stage.

"Boxing was the only Olympic discipline in which women could not participate and London 2012 is set to provide a real legacy for this sport. The growth of women boxers has increased quite drastically in recent years and the impressive performances from our athletes is very encouraging ahead of this summer.

"All three women won medals at the 2012 World Championships and we will fully support them in their quest to not only make history in London, but in helping to create a legacy for women's boxing across the UK with their inspirational performances."

Marshall added: "I was only 14 years old when it was announced that the Olympics would be in London so to think that I will be competing in them is quite incredible.

"It is a massive prospect and I am determined to do well so right now I am just focused on training hard, listening to the coaches and doing everything I can to make sure I am in peak condition when the games begin."

Build-up

Together, the ten boxers now selected to Team GB include one World Champion, three European Champions, and four more World Championship finalists. Seven of the ten are ranked in the top four in the world in their weight class.

The squad, based in Sheffield, go into the Olympic competition at Excel with a strong track record and an unprecedented level of success which has resulted in 20 medals at six major tournaments over the last three years under the leadership of GB boxing performance director Rob McCracken.

"Since I took over as Performance Director in November 2009, the GB Boxing squad has performed consistently well at major Championships," said McCracken. "To secure ten Olympic qualifiers is a very satisfying and a great achievement by the boxers who have all worked hard to secure this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compete at a home Olympics.

"It is also the result of a lot of hard work by a whole team of people, most notably our coaches and the sports science team from the English Institute of Sport (EIS) who support the boxers inside and outside of the gym, and I would like to thank all of them for their part in helping the boxers to qualify.

"The ten boxers are all a credit to the squad and if they box to their full potential then every one of them has the talent and ability to do well and secure a medal."

Ogogo said of his selection: "It is an amazing feeling to know I am going to the Olympics after all the challenges I have had to overcome.

"I have had so much bad luck with injuries but I never lost faith in myself and have had some amazing support from the coaches and all of the back-up team that have helped me to get over my shoulder injury and make it to London. It will be a dream-come-true to represent Great Britain in a home Olympics and I cannot wait to walk out in that Arena in London."