One of the last medals awarded at the Rio Olympics went to a 21-year-old middleweight boxer from Flint, Mich.: Claressa Shields.
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Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya sloshed his way to the gold medal in the men’s Olympic marathon as Rio de Janeiro began its grand goodbye to the 2016 Games in clammy conditions that did nothing to dampen Brazil’s frenzied mood. Despite winning gold in London, Shields received fewer endorsements than her counterparts in other sports, though this time around, endorsements are coming in.
It should be pointed out that Powerade is one of her sponsors. Though it can be argued that there has been a dramatic downturn in women’s boxing since 2003, I can see how it can make a swift comeback with the talent out there in the amateurs today. For Shields, the prospect of retaining the title she won in London 2012 and firmly underlining her dominance of the Middleweight (75kg) class over the last four years, while Fontijn was eager to erase the memory of her World Championship final defeat to the American in May. To that point Shields had bounced around between the home of her mother and various relatives while looking for someone, anyone, to take care of her.
Shields only had to avoid trouble in the fourth and final round – and did that comfortably to retain her title, sparking attempts at a cartwheel and then her ecstatic foray around the ring. “I’m just as fast as you. I’m the first American to be a two-time Olympic gold medalist, oh my God!” Your life depends on your decisions and it depends on what you want to do.
“This is for all of Uzbekistan, it is an Independence Day gift to the people who have supported me”, said an emotional Gaibnazarov. “I thought I’d done enough to win”, said Zoirov afterwards.
Of note, Oliver Kirk won two Olympic gold medals for the U.S.in boxing at the St. Louis 1904Olympic Games- but in two different weight divisions. “She was 17 and for her to get up there and tell her story, I was like, ‘I would never.'”.
Not every often – especially not after an even first round that Shields narrowly won.
The No. 1-ranked female boxer in the world believes she entered the Games with a different mind-set than some of her opponents. “She could become the greatest Olympic boxer of all time”.
“I have been through a lot in my life”, said Shields, who combines a punishing punch with an infectious spirit. “People don’t seem to expect much from black females, or females period, so that the fact I can be so dominant in a male-dominated sport means a lot”. And when I got just a little bit of hope, look how far I’ve come. “I’m definitely going to get my next one”.
“I just wanted to win the first two rounds clear, that’s all I wanted”, Shields said of her strategy in the fight.
Boxing saved Shields from the moment she took her first lesson at age 11.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do”. Instead, she settled for a huge smile, fingering the medals that said more than words as the United States’ national anthem played for the first time at Rio’s boxing venue.
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“We are hopeful. We’ll sit down with her and try to convince her to stay”, USA coach Billy Walsh told Reuters.
