By Jake Donovan

Something special was in the air from the moment Katie Taylor came out of the tunnel for her first Olympic appearance earlier this week. 

In each of her two fights in this year's competition, something special has taken place in the ring.

Katie Taylor is a win away from securing Ireland's boxing squad its first boxing Gold medal in this year's competition after pounding out a 17-9 win over Tajikistan's  Mavzuna Chorieva. 

In any other bout, it's possible that Chorieva marches on to the finals herself. Unfortunately for the 19-year old, awaiting her on this particular afternoon was the reigning four-time World amateur lightweight champion. 

There was never the threat of an upset or even of Taylor becoming unraveled. The action was slow in the beginning, but enough to give the Irish lightweight an early lead and enough cause for the rabid crowd to keep the ExCel Arena at glass-shattering decibel levels. 

The lead continued to grow with each passing round, a fact not lost on Chorieva who began taunting her stationary opponent early in the third. Taylor wouldn't fall for it, fighting at her own pace and piling up points the moment she picked up her offensive output. 

No official announcement was needed by fight's end to declare the winner. Everyone in the arena knew it. Taylor did as well, but refused to get caught up in the moment. A calm demeanor graced her face, appreciative of the surroundings and what she had just achieved, but never to the point of showboating.

In short, she carried herself like a champion.

One more fight awaits in pursuit of fulfilling her destiny. Meeting her in the finals will be Russia's Sofya Ochigava, who was awarded a 17-11 win over  Adriana Araujo of Brazil .

The lightweight semifinals marked the only portion of remaining women's competition to not feature a fighter from the United States or Great Britain.

The two nations collided in the very first lightweight bout in of the 2012 Olympic Games, with crowd favorite Natasha Jonas topping American hopeful Quanitta 'Queen' Underwood with a 23-13 win. Jonas was eliminated in her next fight, falling short to Ireland's Katie Taylor in a bout that featured a championship-level atmosphere.

The lightweight Gold medal round takes place on Thursday, August 9.

Lightweight Semifinals (Medal round - Wednesday, August 8):
Katie Taylor (Ireland) def.  Mavzuna Chorieva (Tajikistan), 17-9
Sofya Ochigava (Russia) def.  Adriana Araujo (Brazil), 17-11

Lightweight Finals (Gold medal round - Thursday, August 9):
Katie Taylor (Ireland) vs. Sofya Ochigava (Russia)

Lightweight Quarterfinals (Monday, August 6):
Katie Taylor (Ireland) def. Natasha Jonas (Great Britain), 26-15
Mavzuna Chorieva (Tajikistan) vs. Dong Cheng (China), 13-8
Adriana Araujo (Brazil) def.    Mahjouba Oubtil (Morocco)   , 16-12
Sofya Ochigava (Russia) def. Alexis Pritchard (New Zealand), 22-4

Round of 16 Matchups (Sunday, August 5):
Natasha Jonas (Great Britain) def. Quanitta Underwood (USA), 21-13
Dong Cheng (China) def. Mihaela Lacatus (Romania), 10-5
Adriana Araujo (Brazil) def.     Saida Khassenova (Kazakhstan), 16-14
Alexis Pritchard (New Zealand) def. Rim Jouini (Tunisia), 15-11

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter: @JakeNDaBox