DESPITE a weight-making controversy and backdrop of rancour and recrimination Britian's Olympic amateur boxers can return to their Sheffield HQ with heads held high.
Great Britain came back from Beijing with their best medal haul in over half a century, with two bronze medals to back up James Degale's golden moment.
Degale's brawling middleweight victory over Cuban Emilio Correa in the Workers' Gymnasium not o
nly allowed him to belatedly fulfil his undoubted potential, but provided euphoric vindication of head coach Terry Edwards.
It is said Edwards is wanted out by senior officials within the Amateur Boxing Association and instead of returning home as the head of a hugely successful squad based at Sheffield's EIS, he will find himself launched straight into a battle to save his job.
Such are the politics of amateur boxing, which reached a nadir when the ABA chose to suspend welterweight Billy Joe Saunders on the eve of the night when three British boxers were fighting for a place in an Olympic final.
Degale's magnificent victory finally wrested the attention back to the ring where it mattered most, and bronze medal successes for David Price and Tony Jeffries were also not to under-valued in a notoriously tough competition.
Edwards had qualified an extraordinary eight boxers for Beijing, all of whom brought with them realistic medal chances, except gold medal favourite Frankie Gavin, who was left behind in Macau when weight-making issues took their toll.
The true story behind Gavin's non-appearance is yet to be told and there were likely mistakes on all sides, but the issue should not be allowed to deflect from the real story of British boxing success.
Despite a nightmare draw, Edwards' men performed more than creditably. Price battered Russian World No 1 Islam Timurziev in his first fight, while Degale's path was blocked by reigning Olympic champion Bakhiytar Artayev.
Jefferies' courage carried him all the way to the semi-finals while there was no shame in the performances of teenagers Saunders and Khalid Yafai, who were beaten by world-class Cubans, but will build for 2012.
Despite his immediate intentions, it is highly unlikely Degale will stick around to chase repeat gold in his home city, with professional promoters already dangling seven-figure sums in front of his face.
Whether Edwards stays around remains to be seen. But former Olympic medallist and professional world champion Richie Woodhall believes to get rid of the team's head coach would be a mistake.
Woodhall said: "They have been the best Games since 1956 and you can't argue with that. The team started with the major blow of the Frankie Gavin situation but they brushed themselves off and got on with it.
"If there are people who question Terry in terms of the Gavin situation then you have got to give him credit for his response. He got on with the job and shaped a successful team who should be proud of themselves."
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