One Direction star Niall Horan has revealed his pride at seeing a fellow countryman reach the semi-finals of an Olympic boxing event.

John Joe Nevin - who hails from Horan's hometown of Mullingar, Ireland - beat Mexico's Oscar Valdez in the quarter-final of the bantamweight event last night (August 5).

Horan was watching on from the crowd with a friend but he revealed through Twitter that he faced a mad dash to get to the venue in time. He said:

"Never soo proud! @johnJoeNevin you absolute hero! Unbelievable, soo proud to be irish its unreal. I made it to the fight in the end! Cannot believe im here to watch this happen ! Me and @williedevine ran 1.5 lkm to the excel and made it."

Horan concluded: "Great night at the boxing yet again, @johnJoeNevin being an absolute hero! #goforgold."

Nevin will fight Cuba's Lazaro Alvarez in the bantamweight semi-finals on Friday (August 10).