Golden girl Isra Hale is a hit in the Steel City

Despite not having fought for a year, Hale headed to the Steel City looking to leave her mark at the UK's annual multi-sport event.

And she certainly did that, clinching gold in the women's 57-60kg novice final after a unanimous decision victory over Leeds Beckett's Katherine Sharp.

Things did not go all her way, though, as she struggled in the opening round due to vision problems caused by her hairnet.

But after sorting the issue, there was not stopping former Wood Green Academy pupil Hale as she battled her way to the win.

"I was in a bit of a scrap and I didn't want to get into a scrap," said Hale, who was competing for the University of Oxford.

"I had a problem with the hairnet in the first round where it was going into my eyes and that was really frustrating.

"We swapped the headguards around and it got sorted but it is a lesson for the future as it was unnecessary stress in the fight. I was shouting at the ref 'I can't see, I can't see!'

"I am really proud to have represented my university and it was great to get some more bouts because it is not easy to get bouts in female boxing.

"I had two losses the year before this competition and it had been a year since I last fought. So to compete on a big stage like this is awesome."

Hale is currently balancing training with studying medicine at the University of Oxford, where she is in her fourth year.

And she believes her weekend success is down to a new level of fitness which has come about through training for Army assessments.

"I was not training properly and I was losing the weight in the wrong way, whereas now I am training well and if you are fit and strong then you can do well at this level in boxing," Hale added.

"I am on an Army bursary for medical school and to be on that I had to get myself fit for their assessments, so I have been doing a lot of circuit training for that and it has really boosted my fitness levels.

"Boxing is really big in all the military. They want the fittest and the sharpest people possible and I am working towards making sure I am just that."

British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the national governing body for Higher Education (HE) sport in the UK, organising leagues and competitions for more than 150 institutions across 52 different sports.

Partnered by Deloitte, BUCS supports athletes from a grass roots level through to Commonwealth and Olympic Games hopefuls www.bucs.org.uk.