Female boxer aiming for Olympics

For the first time ever, women's boxing will be included in the Olympics. The governing body of the games, the International Olympic Committee, has agreed to include the sport in London 2012.

18-year-old Sian Hemmings is over the moon at the news.

She said: "I've been boxing for about six years now. I just wanted to start boxing, so I looked into it.

"I want to box in the Olympics because it's just the sport I enjoy. I love boxing. I like the feeling of doing competitions and what you get out of it."

Sian's made it to the national finals three times but is hoping that by the end of the year she wil be national champion - which could mean she'll qualify for the Olympic team.

"I love watching it on the TV and it's just like, I didn't know many females did it, and that's why I wanted to do it. I really liked it."

Sian's coach is Alan Keast. He runs the Tamworth Amateur Boxing Club that she trains in.

He said: "She trains alongside our male competitors. She's treated as a boxer.

"It's quite embarrassing to a number of the newer male boxers when Sian can lift more weights than them and is better skilled than them."

He's hoping once word gets out that the sport is now being taken a little more seriously, more women will want to sign up.

It's thought one male weight class would be dropped to allow for three female classes to compete.

Mick Gannon is the national boxing coach for England: "Female boxing is here to stay.

"It's the fastest growing sport in the country. And they're far more skilful than the men. And they can use their skill rather than their sheer aggression to make it an art form."

The new female season is about start in September, which means Sian's 11 sessions a week are about to go up to as many as three a day.

"I feel like I'm getting better for the next fight," she says. "And I'm training harder for the next fight and getting fitter. All I want to do is compete."