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Boxing is more likely to be one of many sports activities which gives Team GB one of the best alternative to win medals on the Tokyo Olympics and Wednesday’s announcement of the squad of seven males and 4 girls confirmed its depth and high quality. Olympic boxing usually resembles a lottery as a result of a lot depends upon wayward judges and the vagaries of the draw. But this squad appears to be like to be no less than as sturdy as its London 2012 counterpart which received 5 medals.
The GB workforce then relied heavily on Anthony Joshua, Luke Campbell and Nicola Adams, who all received gold, whereas the 2021 squad has a a lot deeper pool of expertise. All 11 British fighters in Tokyo can declare to be in medal competition, in the event that they get the fitting draw, and that was not true of the GB groups in London after which on the Rio Olympics in 2016 when three medals had been received.
Pat McCormack, Lauren Value and Peter McGrail carry critical gold medal aspirations – and the squad is full of compelling characters. Essentially the most intriguing is Caroline Dubois who comes from a large family of fighters and campaigns at light-weight. Three years in the past, when she was 17, the BBC’s venerable boxing commentator Mike Costello stated: “I’m tempted to name Caroline Dubois one of the best feminine boxer I’ve ever seen.” Dubois received the Youth Olympics and world juniors and by no means got here near dropping as a junior. Earlier, this month, in her first senior match on the Olympic qualifiers in Paris, she acquired a brutal draw.
In her opening combat Dubois confronted the world No 2, Mira Potkonen of Finland, who had crushed Katie Taylor, then the reigning champion, within the quarter-finals of the Rio Olympics. Dubois received a testing battle, displaying way more poise than the vastly skilled Potkonen, and he or she reached the ultimate of the European qualifying match to safe her place in Tokyo.
Charley Davison, the flyweight, stepped away from boxing for seven years and have become the mom to a few kids. She made an sudden comeback in 2018 and her qualification for Tokyo has been as inspiring because it was stunning.
Fast Information
Workforce GB Boxing squad for Tokyo
Present
Ladies: Charley Davison (flyweight); Karriss Artingstall (featherweight); Caroline Dubois (light-weight); Lauren Value (middleweight).
Males: Galal Yafai (flyweight); Peter McGrail (featherweight); Luke McCormack (light-weight); Pat McCormack (welterweight); Ben Whittaker (light-heavyweight); Cheavon Clarke (heavyweight); Frazer Clarke (super-heavyweight)
Cheavon Clarke, at heavyweight, got here near demise twice as a boy however he’s an exuberant character. The workforce captain, Frazer Clarke, narrowly missed out on the final Olympics when his super-heavyweight place went to Joe Joyce who received silver in Rio.
GB Boxing’s efficiency director, Rob McCracken, stated: “To qualify 11 boxers is a implausible achievement particularly as they solely had one aggressive alternative to earn a spot in Tokyo. The final 12 months have been very difficult however the boxers have delivered.”
Frazer Clarke stated: “I’ve devoted the final 10 years to this and to lastly be chosen to signify Workforce GB is wonderful. This can be a actually sturdy workforce so to have been named captain is an unbelievable honour.”
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