Chinese Zhang Xiaoping beats Ireland's Kenny Egan to win the Olympic light weight (81kg) gold medal on Sunday. [Xinhua]

Zhang said he worked really hard for 10 years to achieve the Olympic gold, a medal his coach and the coach's brother failed to win in 1992 and 2004 respectively.

Zhang showed his tattoo of a flying horse on Friday after the hard-won victory against Yerkebulan Shynaliyev from Kazakhstan, the one who knocked him out of the top eight of last year's World Championships. He said "people have been calling me a dark horse, but I will fly higher."

Silver medalist Egan, on his part, said "the score's the score and I still get a medal. The whole Games have been great and a silver is still brilliant."

Egan's coach Bill Walsh commented on the final "you've got to keep working, hunt down every point, which isn't Kenny's game. He needs to get ahead early on."

Zhang came to the sports brigade of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at the age of 16. He was brought to the ring by boxing coach Chaolu for his long arms and agile mind.

He exhibited his talent in boxing with a silver medal at the national youth championships in 1999, just one year after he took up the sport.

(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2008)