Sena Irie was all-smiles even before she won Olympic gold.
Irie looked nothing like a boxer who was moments away from the biggest fight of her life when she entered Kokugikan Arena on Tuesday sporting a bright smile ahead of her gold medal bout with the Philippines’ Nesthy Petecio.
Mere minutes later, the 20-year-old wasn’t just smiling, she was leaping into the air after it was announced the judges had given her a unanimous, 5-0 victory in the women’s featherweight class final to become Japan’s first female boxing champion at the Olympics.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.