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.