Nicola Adams Keynote Speaker

Nicola Adams OBE is officially Britain’s most successful female boxer of all time. She is a British Olympian with two gold medals and an inspirational speaker on sports, LGBT+ inclusion and diversity.

She is the only female boxer to have secured the grand slam, having won every major title available to her, making her a sporting icon. Nicola represented Britain internationally at several large sporting events and was both the first British female boxer to become an Olympic champion and the first openly LGBT person to win an Olympic boxing Gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics. She competed at many events during her career including the 2014 Commonwealth Games, the 2015 European Games and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games where she won a gold medal in the Women’s Flyweight, making her the first double Olympic champion.

Nicola has been widely recognised for her contributions to British sport. In 2017, Nicola was awarded an OBE, and prior to that an MBE in 2013, for her services to boxing and unprecedented achievements in the sport. In 2012 she was nominated for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

She has been involved in a number of initiatives and organisations, such as Fight for Peace, to encourage people of all abilities and ages to participate in sport and to promote healthy, balanced lifestyles. Nicola is dedicated to supporting young people and raising the profile of women in sport boxing.

As a member of the LGBT+ community, she has long been a vocal supporter of LGBT+ inclusion and diversity, both in and out of sport. In 2012, Nicola was named the most influential LGBT person in Britain in the Independent’s Pink List, and was listed fourth in 2013.

Since retiring, Nicola has become a well-known TV personality, having appeared on several entertainment shows including BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, where she made history as the first contestant in a same-sex pair, Channel 4’s BAFTA-nominated Celebrity Gogglebox, ITV1’s Beat Grylls’ Wild Adventure, among several others.