U.S. officials welcome women’s boxing into 2012 Olympics

U.S. sports officials on Thursday welcomed a decision by the IOC Executive Board to include women’s boxing, canoe sprint and modern pentathlon for 2012 Olympic Games in London. «We are thrilled that the IOC Executive Committee has voted to add women’s boxing events to the 2012 Olympic Program. The ‘yes’ vote means that female boxers will now be able to share in the dream of standing on the world’s most prestigious sporting podium», said USA Boxing Women’s Task Force Chair and AIBA Women’s Commission member Christy Halbert.

«It’s a historic event, marking the first time that all of the summer Olympic sports will have female participants. The Olympic Games, will, from now on, truly showcase the world’s best talent». In its continual review of the sports program of the Olympic Games, the IOC Executive Board agreed to the introduction of three women’s events. The current 11 men’s boxing events will be replaced by 10 men’s and three women’s events, representing an additional two boxing events on the program. Еhe total number of boxers remains unchanged.

The decision was a recognition that women’s boxing has made substantial progress in universality and technical quality of the athletes since the discipline was last considered in 2005. Boxing was previously the only summer sport on the Olympic docket without a female counterpart. Female boxers will compete at three weights in London, flyweight (106 lbs-112 lbs), lightweight (123 lbs-132 lbs) and middleweight (152 lbs-165 pounds), with 12 boxers boxing in each of three divisions. «The addition of women’s boxing means that we finally have a truly universal Olympic Games», AIBA President Dr. Chung-Kuo Wu said. «Nevertheless, we will strive to ensure a very successful first Olympic Games for women in London in order that the number of women participating in future Olympic Games may increase».

Halbert echoes President Wu’s sentiment on the future growth of women’s boxing within the Olympic Games. «With the announcement of only a small amount of weight categories for women, the work toward fairness continues», Halbert added. «This is a first step toward recognizing that women boxers are an important addition to the Olympic family. The 2012 Olympics will undoubtedly send a strong and inspiring message that all athletes are valued in Olympic sports, regardless of their gender».

The addition of the 36 female boxers will necessitate the removal of one weight category in men’s competition, meaning there will be only 10 men’s weight classes. «USA Boxing is extremely excited for all of the female boxers across the country that have been training and preparing for this day, but we also realize that it has an unfortunate impact on the men’s program», commented USA Boxing Acting Executive Director Mike Martino. «This change will require a great deal of planning by the national office with the addition of female boxers and the unfortunate reduction of male boxers who will enjoy the opportunity to compete in the Olympic Games, but we will ensure that all our athletes are prepared for competition at the highest level», he said.