Shields said, defeating the Netherland’s Nouchka Fontijn in the women’s middleweight (75-kilogram) division in a unanimous decision.
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RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Claressa Shields won her second Olympic boxing gold medal Sunday, becoming the first American to win gold in two games.
The final against Fontijn – who defeated China’s Li Qian in the other semifinal – will be a rematch from their bout at the world championships, which Shields won.
The last American boxer to win two gold medals was Oliver Kirk, who won both the bantamweight and featherweight titles at the same 1904 St. Louis Olympics, where only US boxers took part. I think that now people are starting to embrace that.
“Her belief”, Walsh answered quickly when asked what sets Shields apart. A picture of Shields wearing her gold medal from the 2012 London Olympics hangs above the front door of the field house. I’ve been looking forward to something, and then before I know it, it’s here and I’ve competed. When I get outside the ring, I just carry myself the way I’m supposed.
But Shields believes her traumatic childhood is one of the sources of her strength – and boxing was her way out.
It should be pointed out that Powerade is one of her sponsors. She was advised to stop boasting about how she likes to beat people up.
“Good things come to those who wait”, Shields said Wednesday after her unanimous victory over Russia’s Yaroslava Yakushina in their middleweight quarterfinal bout.
ESPN’s Dan Rafael writes that Shields, 21, dominated on Sunday against Nouchka Fontijn of the Netherlands, winning all four rounds on all three judges’ scorecards.
“She can’t outbox me”, Shields said. Tell me if this is real enough for you. “But I have a great story to tell”. 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. But Fontijn showed herself to be elusive, bobbing out of the way of some of Shields’ most risky blows.
Shields looks to be having fun as she shut down the once chanting audience in favor of Fontijn.
Despite her winning a gold medal, Shields returned to home only to find that all the prestigious brands shied away from her. Shields say it’s because she does not fit their image of a traditional woman.
Mossely won lightweight gold on her 24th birthday on Friday and was in the stands shouting encouragement for Yoka.
In branding herself, Shields says she is altering the definition of what a woman can be. “It depends on my opportunities”, she said. She was joined by Uzbek light flyweight Hasanboy Dusmatov, who won the men’s Val Barker one week after completing his impressive run to gold. She ended the bout with a powerful left hook on her way to another 3-0 victory and her second Olympic gold medal.
“We can make it if we try, just the two of us”. Then she hopped down from the ring, grabbed a giant US flag and circled the arena, flag held overhead, as if she were about to take flight.
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Claressa Shields had an Olympic gold medal around her neck and a secret keepsake in her warmup jacket pocket. For athletes like Shields and Snyder – and indeed the vast majority of the more than 10,000 who gathered in Rio the last few weeks – the Olympics are the unquestioned pinnacle.
