On hearing that women would be entering the ring for the first time in Olympic history, a Cuban coach was heard to exclaim: 'Women should be showing off their beautiful faces, not getting punched in them'. Tell that to Nicola Adams, hometown heroine, who brought the roof down at the ExCel Arena when she became the first woman to win a boxing final in the history of the Games. Or tell it to Katie Taylor, Ireland's first Olympic gold medallist since swimmer Michelle Smith won two titles in the 1996 Atlanta Games.
The last bastion of men in the Olympics was toppled in London with boxing featuring 36 women from countries as diverse as Azerbaijan and Venezuela. Since its introduction in 1904, boxing has been featured 24 times at the Olympics, having been part of every Games except Stockholm 1912 (boxing was illegal in Sweden at the time). But until now it has been the sole preserve of men.
Sports fans will know about the deeds of Cassius Clay at the 1960 Rome Olympics or that of Teofilo Stevenson, the great Cuban boxer who won three golds and never turned professional. But it has always been a man's game.
And it is apt that in London boxing finally caught up with every other sport, for it was in England that the suffragette movement was born which helped women win the right to vote. At the opening ceremony, Danny Boyle made sure the world was reminded of this when a descendant of Emily Pankhurst portrayed a suffragette.
This year's Games mark the first time in history that women have competed in every event. It's also the first time every country has sent women athletes, which has led some to dub London 'the Women's Games'. Countries such as Brunei and Saudi Arabia included women for the first time. Sarah Attar, an 800-metres runner, was among the first women - the other being a judoka - to compete for Saudi Arabia and she took part covered from head to toe, with only her smiling face peeping out from under a hood.
Even in the West, women are getting a bigger share of the pie. For the first time, Team USA have more women than men in their squad. Britain have 541 athletes of whom 262 are women. It was perhaps just right that the first gold medal for the hosts should be won by women - rowers Helen Glover and Heather Stanning.