Boxing star reveals her quirky golden secret

She was our golden girl at the Commonwealth Games but Skye Nicolson has revealed her quirky ritual.

AMID winning gold in featherweight boxing at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Skye Nicolson became our golden girl ... literally.

The 23-year-old, who defeated Northern Ireland’s Michaela Walsh in the final, admits her unique strategy leading into the bout meant she focused on the object she was desperate to win.

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“Every time I saw something gold I had to buy it (for good luck),” she said.

“I had gold this and gold that. It worked.”

After not qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympics, the Griffith University student was forced to work harder than ever to earn her chance to compete on the Gold Coast.

“I felt like I didn’t want to box anymore,” she said.

Skye Nicolson. Picture: AAP IMAGE

“I felt like it was the first time where I put 100 per cent into every tiny detail of my training and for it not to come off was pretty devastating.

“I set new goals and gave myself something new to work towards which I did and I made history and was the first Australian to win a medal at the boxing World Championships with bronze (in Kazakhstan in 2016).

“I feel like that was all due to the pain and heartbreak I felt missing out on Rio.”

Determined not to feel the same devastation as she did in 2016, Nicolson has her eyes firmly set on a top six finish at October’s World Championships which would see her automatically qualify for the Tokyo Olympics next year.

Australia's Skye Nicolson celebrates her victory against Northern Ireland's Michaela Walsh during their women's 57kg final boxing match during the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games at the Oxenford Studios venue on the Gold Coast on April 14, 2018. Picture: AFP PHOTO

Just back from the Strandja International in Bulgaria, Nicolson leaves tomorrow for a three-day Super 8 series in Auckland, followed by a two-week training camp at America’s Olympic boxing training facility in Colorado Springs.

“Everything I’ve done between the Commonwealth Games and the World Championships later this year has been with Tokyo in mind,” she said.

“My main focus is on a top six finish in October.”

Despite women’s boxing only set to feature for the third time in Olympic history next year, Nicolson believes the gender gap is quickly closing.

“Growing up, women’s boxing didn’t really exist,” she said.

“They’ve added another two weight divisions for women in Tokyo and taken away two men’s divisions to accommodate and it was also great that the Commonwealth Games had equal medals available for men and women.

“Equality is only going to become more and more prevalent in every sport.”