Athlone resident recounts historic Taylor win

Athlone resident and local photographer Liam Kidney was among the throng of Irish fans at the ExCeL Arena last Thursday to watch Bray woman Katie Taylor make history when she won her Olympic gold medal. It was only when he saw the opening ceremony of the Games that Liam decided to travel over to London and was lucky enough to secure at ticket for Katie's semi-final bout against Tajikistan's Mavzuna Chorieva on Wednesday of last week. When in London, Liam stayed with friend Jamie Bergin, a native of Athlone, who was also at the historic women's lightweight final on Thursday afternoon. Liam explained that after watching Katie make it through to the final on Wednesday, he was chatting to some Americans who had extra tickets for the final and so he bought five of them. It was then that Coriel O'Brien decided to fly over and left Athlone on Thursday morning to join them in watching Katie's historic victory against Sofya Ochigava on Thursday. Getting into the spirit ahead of the final, Liam explained that they bought some facepaint and painted their own faces first, but soon there was a production line with some 30 Irish fans having their faces painted by the Athlone contingent. "We got to the stadium about 30 minutes before the fight and the atmosphere was electric," said Liam. "The nerves were there but people were excited and singing and chanting." Describing the atmosphere during the fight, Liam said: "The first round was two all and it was tense but people were still singing. The second round when she was down a point the atmosphere dropped. After the third round when she won everyone was screaming and in the fourth round that continued." And while for those of us watching on our TV screens it may have felt like an age before Katie Taylor's hand was raised in the air, it seemed even longer in the arena. "It took forever for them to annonce the winner. You could have heard a pin drop. Ochigava was raising her arm and that added to the tension. When they announced it I could see her (Katie) on the big screen and I saw her dropping to her knees and everyone was screaming," said Liam. He added that the atmosphere during the medal ceremony and for Amhrán na bhFian was unbelievable. "Then we saw ourselves on the big screen and that was the icing on the cake," he said. It didn't end there, though, and Liam said the singing continued as the 8,000 Irish fans left the stadium grounds and made their way to the Olympic Centre where they bumped into some of the people whose faces they had painted earlier. Later that evening the lady herself entered the Olympic Centre to greet the fans. "Katie Taylor came in and the whole place erupted. She only stayed for two or three minutes but she was hugely humble and thanked everyone. The head of the Olympic Council Pat Hickey also thanked everyone," said Liam. "It was absolutely fantastic to be part of such a historic occasion," he added. The Cork native added that he had been in Cardiff twice to see Munster win and also for the Grand Slam, but last week's fight between Katie Taylor and her Russian opponent Sofya Ochigava was the biggest sporting event he was ever at. "The country needed this boost and she delivered in style," he said. "The tickets were expensive but they were worth it. With all the negativity in the country and the recession it gave us a lift of patriotism. We're all so proud of her." Liam also paid tribute to London on hosting the Games and said everyone was so friendly. He said they had their faces painted when they were on the Tube and lots of English people came over to chat to them and have their photos taken with them. He added that the police and the voluntary stewards were also extremely friendly and said England was a great host of the 2012 Olympic Games.