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Canada’s 5 Olympic boxer are heading into the Tokyo Olympics with a number of chips on their shoulders; from fewer alternatives to compete because of strict COVID guidelines in Canada to a world area that’s burgeoning with expertise.
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Our Olympic cheat sheets provide the inside edge on the whole lot you want to know in Tokyo, particularly in the event you solely comply with the motion each 4 years. Right here’s what you want to learn about Canada’s possibilities contained in the ring.
The five-person Canadian Olympic boxing workforce is fierce.
However each boxer in Tokyo will probably be good. Excellent. This isn’t a Winter Olympics-type deal the place a determine skater representing the Philippines could also be competing, or an alpine skier, the son of a Prince, from Morocco participating, or an Eddy the Eagle-type character in ski leaping entered.
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Boxing attracts athletes from each nation on Earth, and the Olympics can solely settle for so many fighters. And that’s the foremost purpose why Canada has not received an Olympic medal within the sport since 1996 and why it’s so tough for Canadian boxers to even qualify for the Olympic Video games. For the Tokyo Olympics, Canada will probably be sending 5 boxers, 4 girls and one man.
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Ryan Savage is a lawyer in Winnipeg and a former Canadian nationwide workforce boxer. Final September, he was elected the brand new president of Boxing Canada.
As a former international-calibre novice boxer, Savage is aware of what the Canadian boxers on the Tokyo Olympics will probably be up against.
“Boxing is a reasonably low-cost sport, type of like soccer. You get a ball, you kick it round and also you’re good. In boxing, you set some gloves on, you’re able to go. So, yeah, it’s deep (in expertise) in lots of, many, many, many international locations and never solely the prosperous international locations. Numerous occasions much less prosperous international locations are a number of the stronger (boxing) international locations,” stated Savage.
Lengthy gone are the times when Boxing Canada would ship full groups to Olympic Video games and are available dwelling with {hardware}. The final Canadian to win a medal on the Olympics within the sport was David Defiagbon in 1996. Lately, Canadian boxers must get by way of regional qualifiers simply to get to the Video games and defeat fighters from such boxing-rich nations because the U.S., Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominion Republic.
“It’s fairly the method now to qualify for the Olympics. It’s not prefer it was again within the day the place all you needed to be was a nationwide champion and get your ticket to the Olympics,” stated Savage. “Now you must rank inside the Americas in an effort to attend. And naturally, the Americas for the Tokyo Olympics got cancelled due to COVID-19 and that clearly turned an enormous problem.
“The easiest way to qualify for the Olympics is thru competitors and also you need to really feel that you just rightfully earned your spot. Sadly, the Americas qualifying occasion for Tokyo received cancelled and so there was a to do concerning the rating system and who was going to qualify and who wasn’t.”
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The 5 boxers who certified for Group Canada are Tammara Thibeault, Myriam Da Silva, Caroline Veyre and Wyatt Sanford, who certified by way of their world rankings primarily based on competitions in 2018 and 2019. Mandy Bujold, the workforce’s most achieved fighter internationally, was given the inexperienced mild to compete after the Court of Arbitration in Sport ruled that qualification standards should embrace an lodging for ladies who have been pregnant or postpartum throughout the qualification interval. The Kitchener flyweight gave delivery to her daughter Kate Olympia in 2018.
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Canadian boxer Mandy Bujold coaching on the Atlas Gymnasium in Toronto in 2014. Picture by Michael Peake/Toronto Solar/QMI Company
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“However we’re pleased with the quantity of individuals we have now qualify for the Olympics. We’re assured in these athletes,” stated Savage. “Virtually, it’s going to be a bit of little bit of a battle as a result of in Canada, with COVID and the restrictions which have been in play since March of 2020, there hasn’t been a number of alternatives for competitors, worldwide competitors and admittedly, even sparring.
“Numerous different international locations have been competing all through (COVID), they’ve had alternatives to have all kinds of worldwide competitions and home competitions. However our athletes are busting their ass coaching onerous and so they’re motivated to kick some ass, so hopefully they do. Typically persons are behind the eight ball, they step up and so they can do all kinds of loopy issues and hopefully that’s going to occur right here,” he added.
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