Has there ever been an easier medal won at an Olympic Games'Nicola Adams successfully defended her flyweight gold medal on Saturday, defeating France's Sarah Ourahmoune by a unanimous points decision. Her victory helped in bringing Team GB's gold medal count at Rio 2016 up to 26 on the penultimate day of competition.It makes Adams the first Briton since 1924 to achieve such a feat in Olympic boxing by defending her title."The gold rush continues," a delighted Adams said after, per BBC Sport. "I can't believe it. I am now officially our most accomplished amateur boxer ever, and it is such an amazing feeling."It takes a lot to win an Olympic medal, and I would just like to thank everybody."Adams is right; winning any medal at the Olympics, be it gold, silver or bronze, is an amazing achievement for athletes who compete at the Games. For many sportsmen and women, it's the pinnacle of their sports, so victory comes with a level of prestige that is unrivaled.Adams has done everything asked of her. She arrived in Rio with big pressure on her shoulders after her exploits at London 2012. Since then, she has become a world champion, too, so the height of expectation was increased.But she lived up to her billing and beat everyone put in front of her. Adams had fought a mere three bouts, though.The 33-year-old found herself put immediately into the quarter-final of the flyweight boxing, where she breezed past Tetyana Kob of Ukraine. The fight came on the 11th day of the Olympics, and it was the 21st session of boxing by that stage.She had a long wait, yet the action was just as short. Blink and you would have missed her in the ring.Excuse the pun, but Adams' Olympic success has been smash and grab. It's worked like her tactics in the ring: She leads with a quick jab to counter an opponent, lands a punch and is gone just as quick.Waiting until the second week of competition at Rio 2016, she's been a fleeting presence in the ring.Winning her opening fight, Adams was guaranteed a medal after just one outing. At the Olympics, the losing semi-finalists are guaranteed a bronze. Adams could have packed up and gone home there and then if medaling in Brazil was her sole purpose.Being a fierce competitor who has made a big impact in women's sports, let alone just boxing, simply medaling wasn't her goal. She defeated Chinese boxer Ren Cancan to set up her gold medal match with Ourahmoune, which she subsequently won 3-0.Success for Adams may have been another bonus for Team GB, yet the whole schedule has made a mockery of what an Olympic medal is all about. Adams has hardly broken a sweat in claiming her gold.She shouldn't be worried by that. Scheduling and planning events isn't her concern. It's the boxing authorities at Rio 2016 who must hold their heads in shame.How can a gold medal come along so cheap' Across the Olympics we have witnessed mammoth battles for athletes to claim their medals. We've seen the open-water swimming, where swimmers battle over 10 tiring kilometres for the right to be named champion.In cycling, there are rounds of riding around the velodrome track at paces that cyclists have to negotiate before the medals are given out. In rowing, competitors have to put their bodies through grueling heats just to reach the finalbefore they have do it all again.Even in boxing we've seen plenty of fights before gold medalists were named. For Adams, it's almost been a breeze.Fighting just three times for goldremember it was just one victory for a guaranteed bronzeis a shambles for what the Olympics is all about. There would have been no shortage of endeavour from Adams as she trained for the event, but getting to Rio is where the work has effectively stopped.It should've been the other way aroundgetting to Rio is when it should have become serious for Adams. It's when she should have needed to up her work rate and get her game face on. Instead, a trio of bouts to claim a gold has made it seem easy for her.Sure, being in the ring and actually doing it is something else completely. Writing about it is the easy part, but where was the competition' The Olympics are supposed to be the pinnacle, yet there has been nothing in front of Adams to make her really work for it.As the athlete who competed, Adams is deserving of every bit of praise that comes her way. She's a double Olympic champion, and she has her place in history with it. When she holds that medal up next her to gold from London 2012, it isn't going to have the same sparkle, though. It's going to have the appearance of what it is: a fugazi.
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