So after pounding her way to a one-sided victory over the Netherlands’ Nouchka Fontijn in the women’s middleweight boxing final, mounting the medal podium and having the gold hung around her neck for the second time in four years, Shields unzipped the left pocket of her warmup jacket, pulled out the medal she won four years ago in London and draped that across her chest as well. I haven’t let myself see past this day.
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But when it comes time to box for an actual gold, Shields has no peer.
“I don’t really have too big of a secret”, Snyder said. “I remember when I was one of those little kids who didn’t have any hope”.
Shields had all the answers as she breezed through three unanimous decision victories in the tournament.
“I don’t ever want to be stuck in a situation where I have to live like that or my family has to live like that”, she said.
With the title a formality, she gestured toward a passive Fontijn in the fourth round as if to say, “Come fight!” I showed I was the better, stronger and more skilled fighter. “I want to see if you can hit me'”.
Women’s boxing was introduced to the Olympics in 2012, and Shields follows Britain’s Nicola Adams, who successfully defended her flyweight title on Saturday, as a double champion. “There was a girl who was talking about her mom who sold her for some drugs”, she said.
Fazliddin Gaibnazarov defeated Lorenzo Sotomayor of Azerbaijan in the light welterweight final to become the third boxer from Uzbekistan to win gold in the games. But Fontijn showed herself to be elusive, bobbing out of the way of some of Shields’ most unsafe blows.
Weaver says the now two-time Olympic gold medalist is a role model for “old and young alike”.
Pau Gasol scored 31 points in what might have been his final Olympic game and Spain added a bronze to its collection with an 89-88 win over Australia, again denied its first medal.
But though it might have looked easy, Shields insisted it wasn’t.
“I think, if anything, my secret is that instead of thinking about winning and thinking about gold medals and stuff like that, I try to value just my effort, value my improvement and value the love that I have for the sport”. What’s next? Shields is expected to go pro and can be the face of women’s boxing.
Shields may have won both of her Olympic fights handily so far but she has one more win to achieve her goal of defending the gold medal.
“I don’t know. I don’t know what’s next”. “I’m not going to walk all the way over just to find I’m not going to eat anything and go back to my room”.
In Rio de Janeiro, Shields said she was fighting for more than just a medal.
“If she brings home this gold, it brings a little pride back here to this town”, exclaims Campbell.
“I just want to embrace every moment of my second Olympics, that’s why I chose to run around the whole ring with the flag”.
Kyle Snyder won gold, becoming the youngest Olympic wrestling champion in USA history.
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“Standing 5’8″ to Fontijn’s 5’9”, Shields showed her versatility and speed in this fight to win her second gold medal.
