She moved to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO, in May, USA Today reported.
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Brazilian Robson Conceicao, who drew the biggest crowd of any boxer in Rio when he won the lightweight gold, said his life had changed forever.
Shields has spoken passionately in the past about her tough upbringing in Flint, an economically depressed city in MI which suffered badly with the drastic downturn in the American auto industry and has been embroiled in a water-contamination crisis. “But I have a great story to tell. It calmed me down a lot and gave me discipline and structure”. Strategically dominating Nouchika Fontijn of the Netherlands, Shields fought an A+ fight in this 4 round bout at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Shields, who is only 21, is the only US boxer to win two gold medals in a row; she earned her first at the age of 17 during the London 2012 Games, when she defeated Russia’s Nadezda Torlopova. He would see me on Twitter at 1 o’clock in the morning and he’d be like, what are you doing?
The Rio Olympics are officially over following a closing ceremony that was a bit more subdued than the opener. But as the fight went on, we just told her, “Enjoy this!”
Joined on the podium by bronze medallists Dariga Shakimova of Kazakhstan and China’s Li Qian, the fighter from Flint, Michigan, slipped the gold won in London four years ago around her neck to stand and sing the anthem.
Dusable Lewis said Shields has been contacting him regularly from Rio. Bantamweight Shakur Stevenson, the 19-year-old from Newark whom Shields regards as a younger brother, claimed silver.
But it will mean little, in Shields’s mind, if no one notices; if corporate sponsors don’t recognize her marketing power; if boxing promoters don’t see the entertainment potential of powerful, skillful female fighters; if African American women don’t see the beauty of their skin complexion and hair texture; or if children with absent parents in rough cities like Flint don’t believe they can make their way in life, too. “But I want to inspire”. After winning her coveted title, Lisa relives childhood memories of abuse, neglect, and pure evil inflicted by foster parents she lived with while also dreading random appearances of her manipulative mentally ill birth mother.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do”.
“I don’t even remember getting hit”, she said. Every time I go to Florida, I have this overwhelming feeling that I’m happy every day. I just wanted to win the first three rounds clear and every time I came back to the corner, they said you got that round. Shield stayed on task by cutting off the ring, shifting and pivoting as she made her way to Fontijn landing body shots and random combinations at will.
Yoka, who said he would turn pro, laughed when asked if Mossely offered pre-fight advice: “She asked me to win”.
“I worked so hard to get here”, she said, struggling to keep her composure through a rush of both relief and excitement.
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“I don’t want that for my family”. While she doesn’t know exactly what her future awaits, a trip home to Flint is certainly in her plans. And Sunday capped double gold for the first couple of the Olympic boxing tournament. “I can not believe I just did this”.
