London Olympics: Katie Taylor wins gold in women's boxing

The wave of joy that sweeps a nation when it bags the first gold medal is hard to describe in words. Sporting heavyweights like China and the US are in a different league though. Winning gold is almost a run-of-the-mill affair for them. On the contrary, only a favourite's failure makes big news.

As for hosts Britain, it's pedal power to the fore this time. Thanks to a sport called cycling, they have been able to win more gold than critics expected.

But it was the boisterous joy which the Irish erupted into at ExCel Arena on Thursday that transported me back in time to when Abhinav Bindra stepped up to the top rung of the victory podium in Beijing.

When India's Goldfinger won four years ago, the celebrations were not so loud. Yes, officials did want to be photographed with the champion and get a feel of the yellow metal. But there was no carnival atmosphere in or around the arena.

After Katie Taylor landed blows like a fiery angel and won the Olympics boxing gold on Thursday, the Irish celebrations were spontaneous.

It wasn't as if this was Ireland's first ever Olympic medal. Yet Katie's gold was a momentous triumph for the sport-loving people of the country because it came after a 20-year lull.

Inside the arena, if Irish fans lent high-decibel support to the boxer, it was sheer joy watching Katie punch the air and fire herself up in the ring on way to bagging the gold.

Otherwise, too, women's boxing has whipped up the passions of many in London. And with Briton Nicola Adams also winning gold, the partying has been king-size.

But the best way the people of any nation could have let their hair down was the manner in which the Irish celebrated. Their media was in full attendance and the ExCel gangways were bustling with boys and girls were draped in their national flag - green, white and orange. The noise levels could have brought the house down.

Just before the no-holds-barred revelry began, our very own Geeta Phogat had been put on the mat in the repechage Round Two bout in wrestling. As I tried to make my way out to the bus stand, there was a near stampede. To those celebrating, it did not matter if you were an Irishman, a Briton or anyone else.

The loud cheering and blaring music made it a mind-blowing experience. It is this spirit that makes the Olympics special.

Yet, apart from the sea of Irish flags that seemed to be coming at me, there was nothing unruly about the fans' behaviour. Further down the street, I ran into another raucous gang. They were in such high spirits after consuming gallons of beer that even the Bobbies weren't spared. The cops simply got caught in the sea of humanity.

What happened next brought a smile to my face. Katie's medal effort and, more likely, a generous dose of lager gave some Irish girls an emotional high.

They went and hugged a London policemen, planted kisses on his cheeks and got photographed! The lucky chap didn't know how to react as they were just sharing their joy.

Katie has hit the headlines today and I now realise what she has achieved for Ireland. From Evander Holyfield to Oscar De La Hoya, every boxing great has tweeted about her heroics.

The sad part is that with no Indian winning a gold medal in London so far, I do miss the revelry that goes with it.

Talking of celebration and medals, the plight of the Australians is pitiable. London seems to have become a nightmare for them as they are ninth in the medal tally - behind France and Hungary.

It is believed that the medal count of a host country slips in the subsequent edition of the Games. China may have bucked the trend, but the Aussies have suffered a huge slide after hosting the 2000 Games in Sydney.

Since it is a nation which goes for broke in every game it plays, we can surely expect some postmortems Down Under.