SPORTS SHORTS 192: PHILIPPINES FINISHES 11TH AHEAD OF POWERHOUSES KAZAKHSTAN, AUSTRALIA, INDIA AND THAILAND IN OLYMPIC BOXING MEDAL STANDINGS
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 09 Aug 2021
Carlo Paalam, Nesthy Petecio and Eumir Marcial placed the Philippines once again in the Olympic Boxing map. Before the Tokyo 2020 Games, the country won a medal 25 years ago in 1996 Atlanta Olympics courtesy of the men's light flyweight silver medal of Mansueto "Onyok" Velasco.
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There were 81 participating nations with 291 boxers who competed in 15 days and 276 bouts. The boxing tournaments at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo took place from July 24 to August 8, 2021 at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan.
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The number of weight classes for men has been reduced from ten to eight, and there were five women's events, an increase from three at Rio in 2016, and just the third time that females have competed in the ring at the Summer Games.
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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that the International Boxing Association (AIBA) had been stripped of the right to organize the tournament, because of alleged "issues in the areas of finance, governance, ethics and refereeing and judging".
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Boxing was instead be organized by an ad-hoc IOC Boxing Task Force. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed and cancelled several qualifying events.
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Cuba retained overall supremacy in the medal tally for boxing. Great Britain followed at second. Russian Olympic Committee and Brazil were third and fourth, respectively. Turkey rounded up the top five.
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Philippines ranked 11th with United States ahead at 10th and Uzbekistan at 9th place. Boxing powerhouses Kazakhstan (14th), Australia, India and Thailand all tied at 15th were behind the Philippines.
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Rank-Country-Gold-Silver-Bronze-Total
1 Cuba 4-0-1-5
2 Great Britain 2-2--2-6
3 ROC 1-1-4-6
4 Brazil 1-1-1-3
5 Turkey 1-1-0-2
6 Japan 1-0-2-3
7 Ireland 1-0-1-2
8 Bulgaria 1-0-0-1
8 Uzbekistan 1-0-0-1
10 United States 0-3-1-4
11 Philippines 0-2-1-3
12 China 0-2-0-2
13 Ukraine 0-1-0-1
14 Kazakhstan 0-0-2-2
15 Armenia 0-0-1-1
15 Australia 0-0-1-1
15 Azerbaijan 0-0-1-1
15 Chinese Taipei 0-0-1-1
15 Finland 0-0-1-1
15 Ghana 0-0-1-1
15 India 0-0-1-1
15 Italy 0-0-1-1
15 Netherlands 0-0-1-1
15 New Zealand 0-0-1-1
15 Thailand 0-0-1-1
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A total of 25 countries won boxing medals in Tokyo. The Philippines placed 11th behind the United States at 10th. All three American finalists lost in the gold medal match. Andre Ward was the last U.S. men’s boxer to win a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics.
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Men
Flyweight
Galal Yafai (Great Britain) gold
Carlo Paalam (Philippines) silver
Saken Bibossinov (Kazakhstan) bronze
Ryomei Tanaka (Japan) bronze
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Featherweight
Albert Batyrgaziev (ROC) gold
Duke Ragan (United States) silver
Lázaro Álvarez (Cuba) bronze
Samuel Takyi (Ghana) bronze
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Lightweight
Andy Cruz (Cuba) gold
Keyshawn Davis (United States) silver
Harry Garside (Australia) bronze
Hovhannes Bachkov (Armenia) bronze
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Welterweight
Roniel Iglesias (Cuba) gold
Pat McCormack (Great Britain) silver
Andrey Zamkovoy (ROC) bronze
Aidan Walsh (Ireland) bronze
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Middleweight
Hebert Conceição (Brazil) gold
Oleksandr Khyzhniak (Ukraine) silver
Gleb Bakshi (ROC) bronze
Eumir Marcial (Philippines) bronze
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Light heavyweight
Arlen López (Cuba) gold
Benjamin Whittaker (Great Britain) silver
Loren Alfonso (Azerbaijan) bronze
Imam Khataev (ROC) bronze
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Heavyweight
Julio César La Cruz (Cuba) gold
Muslim Gadzhimagomedov (ROC) silver
Abner Teixeira (Brazil) bronze
David Nyika (New Zealand) bronze
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Super heavyweight
Bakhodir Jalolov (Uzbekistan) gold
Richard Torrez (United States) silver
Frazer Clarke (Great Britain) bronze
Kamshybek Kunkabayev (Kazakhstan) bronze
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Women
Flyweight
Stoyka Krasteva (Bulgaria) gold
Buse Naz Çakıroğlu (Turkey) silver
Tsukimi Namiki (Japan) bronze
Huang Hsiao-wen (Chinese Taipei) bronze
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Featherweight
Sena Irie (Japan) gold
Nesthy Petecio (Philippines) silver
Karriss Artingstall (Great Britain) bronze
Irma Testa (Italy) bronze
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Lightweight
Kellie Harrington (Ireland) gold
Beatriz Ferreira (Brazil) silver
Sudaporn Seesondee (Thailand) bronze
Mira Potkonen (Finland) bronze
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Welterweight
Busenaz Sürmeneli (Turkey) gold
Gu Hong (China) silver
Lovlina Borgohain (India) bronze
Oshae Jones (United States) bronze
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Middleweight
Lauren Price (Great Britain) gold
Li Qian (China) silver
Nouchka Fontijn (Netherlands) bronze
Zemfira Magomedalieva (ROC) bronze
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Hidilyn Diaz started training in weightlifting at the age of 11. "I got curious when my cousins did it … I tried to do it and I loved it. I felt like I belonged; like I’m good with it and I wanted to do it more and more,” she told Channel News Asia.
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But her mother was not so avid on her participating in weightlifting. “My mum didn’t want me to do weightlifting because the sport is for men. And all of my cousins were men doing it,” she added.
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But Diaz’s mother was convinced later. "My mum supported me after she saw I was doing good in weightlifting, I was able to get a scholarship, I was able to help them,” said Diaz.
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Weightlifting shouldered the family’s financial problems. She is the fifth of six siblings. "We just ate three times a day and we are okay (with that). Sometimes we didn’t eat, we could not buy food for six siblings … That’s how it was,” Diaz explained.
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Kevin Durant joins Carmelo Anthony as the only players to win three Olympic gold medals for the U.S. men's basketball team. The only other players to win three medals overall for Team USA are David Robinson and LeBron James both with 2 golds and 1 bronze.
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The Olympic win is also remarkable for the Milwaukee Bucks' Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, who join Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving as the only players to win an NBA title and Olympic gold medal in the same year.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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