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USA Boxing’s Youth Olympic Games Team
Arrives in China
by Julie Goldsticker
/USA Boxing
August 15, 2014
Photo: Generic |
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(AUG 15) (COLORADO SPRINGS,
COLO.) – Four American boxers looking for their own place in
history arrived in China today for the 2014 Youth Olympic Games.
The U.S. squad touched down in Shanghai at approximately 5:30
p.m. local time (5:30 a.m. ET) before embarking on a three-hour
bus ride to Nanjing. World Champions Shakur Stevenson (Newark,
N.J.), Jajaira Gonzalez (Glendora, Calif.), and Darmani Rock
(Philadelphia, Pa.), Youth Olympic Games qualifier bronze
medalist Martha Fabela (Oakland, Calif.) and coach Edward Rivas
(Colorado Springs, Colo.) made the long journey from Colorado
Springs to Nanjing together for the global event.
The U.S. squad closed their preparatory training camp at the
U.S. Olympic Training Center on Colorado Springs on Wednesday
before departing on Thursday morning. They will now check in to
the Youth Olympic Village, which houses over 6000 athletes and
team officials during the 12-day event. The four American boxers
will walk in the opening ceremony on Saturday at the Nanjing
Olympic Center and have time to acclimate to their new
surroundings and time zone before boxing competition begins on
Saturday, August 23.
USA Boxing’s four athletes qualified for the event at the Youth
World Championships/Youth Olympic Games Qualifier this past
spring in Sofia, Bulgaria. More than 500 boxers vied for spots
in the summer Youth Olympic Games, but only 78 boxers (60 male
and 18 female) claimed berths in the event. USA Boxing sent only
one athlete, heavyweight Joshua Temple, to the 2010 event so the
four-boxer squad marks a significant increase in participation.
Women’s boxing will be contested for the first time in Youth
Olympic Games action in Nanjing, giving Gonzalez and Fabela
their own piece of history.
As Temple failed to medal in the 2010 event, all four U.S.
participants can win the first Youth Olympic Games medal for USA
Boxing by earning spots on the podium. Stevenson, Gonzalez and
Rock all enter the event as favorites in their respective weight
divisions following their victories at the qualifying event in
April.
The U.S. team members all enjoyed beneficial sparring from top
youth and elite boxers with Stevenson receiving valuable work
from Antonio Vargas (Kissimmee, Fla.) and Hector Tanajara (San
Antonio, Texas) and multi-time national champion Cam F. Awesome
(Lenexa, Kansas) traveling to Colorado Springs to assist Rock.
Gonzalez and Fabela had strong sparring partners as well with
top youth athlete Ariel Arismendez (Tolleson, Ariz.) and elite
boxers Queen Underwood (Seattle, Wash.) and Franchon Crews
(Baltimore, Md.) working with the pair in preparation for the
Youth Olympics.
Six boxers in each of the 13 Olympic weight divisions will
compete in Youth Olympic Games boxing action August 23-27 at the
Nanjing International Expo Centre. One bronze medal will be
awarded in each weight division in Nanjing in contrast to two
bronze medal winners in the Olympic Games.
The 2014 Youth Olympic Games will be the second edition of the
summer event following the inaugural competition in 2010. Over
3500 athletes are slated to compete in 28 sports in the 2014
Youth Olympic Games during the 12 days of competition in
Nanjing.
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