by Our Sports Desk

Nicola Adams became the first British boxer to win two Olympic medals in 56 years yesterday, when she beat Tetyana Kob to advance to the semi-finals of the women’s flyweight division in Rio.

Adams admitted she struggled to shake off the ring-rust but eventually out-worked her Ukrainian opponent, who had impressed in defeating previous Adams foe Stanimira Petrova in the previous round.

Victory ensured a second consecutive medal for the 33-year-old, the first British boxer to achieve the feat since Scotsman Dick McTaggart claimed gold and bronze in 1956 and 1960 respectively.

Adams said: “She was a tough opponent who didn’t stop coming forward and she was aggressive and quite strong.

“I just had to get through. I felt a little bit of the ring-rust but I’ve got the first fight out of the way and it’ll be different next time I fight in the semi-finals.

“It (another medal) means everything for me because I came here to win another medal but I always want the gold.”

Adams will face China’s Ren Cancan in the semi-finals, the same opponent she out-boxed and floored on her way to winning the London 2012 final four years ago.

But she will need to improve after a difficult opener in which Kob had success with plenty of early left hands and appeared unfortunate to drop the first round.

Adams got her jab working better in the second, when conversely one of the three ringside judges scored the bout in the Ukrainian’s favour.

And a better second half of the contest secured a gruelling and unspectacular victory for Adams, who moved one step closer to becoming the first double boxing gold medallist from Britain for 92 years.