Boxer Nicola Adams visits the Merrion Centre

Wed 03 Jul, 2013

The Merrion Centre in Leeds city centre held a welcome home ceremony for women’s boxing gold medalist Nicola Adams on 22 August.

In her first public appearance since her success in London, the boxing star greeted a local crowd of more than 1,000 people who gathered to get a glimpse of her gold medal and hear about her experience of being part of Team GB and getting a gold medal at the Olympics.

Nicola said: “It was great to see so many people here at the Merrion Centre and I can’t quite believe they came to see me. It’s lovely to be back home and to have such a warm welcome. It makes all the hard work and training so worthwhile. I’ve always loved boxing and I hope I can now encourage more girls to take up the sport. I’m really grateful to the Merrion Centre for hosting my homecoming event and also for Town Centre Securities’ donation to Teenage Cancer Trust.\”

Helen Beckett, Associate Director for Town Centre Securities who own and manage the Merrion Centre, said: “Nicola is such an inspiration and has really done our city proud. We wanted to welcome her back in style and give shoppers and visitors the opportunity to celebrate her success. We have been and will continue to celebrate sport throughout the summer at the Merrion Centre. We’re so thrilled she could come along today.\”

Check out our pictures of Nicola at the Merrion Centre with her gold medal and let us know what you thought and if you came along to see her in the comments below.