Kellie Harrington and Lauren Price defeated AIBA Women’s World Champions in the final day of the Tokyo Olympic Games
08 August 2021Four finals were held in the fifteenth and last competition day of the Tokyo Olympic Games which finished today. Ireland’s Kellie Harrington and Great Britain’s Welsh pride Lauren Price both defeated AIBA Women’s World Champions today and reached their career highlights with these Olympic titles.
Altogether 24 European nations could send boxers to the Olympic Games to Japan where the continent had 92 tough boxers including 33 women. Among them 23 European boxers claimed medal in the Tokyo Olympic Games and six of them won the Olympic titles. Russia, Great Britain, Turkey, Ukraine, Ireland, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Italy, Netherlands, Finland and Armenia claimed at least one medal in the Tokyo Olympic Games.
The bout of the day
Ireland’s Kellie Harrington claimed gold medal at the 2018 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships and following her injury, she returned in top form before the European Olympic Boxing Qualifying Event. She arrived to the Tokyo Olympic Games in top form and defeated all of her rivals in Japan’s capital with fantastic performance. She survived her closest battle in the semi-final against Thailand’s Sudaporn Seesondee and met with Brazil’s AIBA Women’s World Champion Beatriz Ferreira in the final. The Brazilian boxer had excellent rhythm opened the final better and caught the Irish with tough punches. The Irish boxer tried to keep the safest distance in the second round and returned to the final still in time. Harrington overcame the Brazilian attacks in the third round, she performed well enough in the last minutes. The Irish boxer’s strategy worked better in the last round and all of the judges picked her as the winner of the women’s lightweight (60kg). She is the second Irish boxer who won the weight category after Katie Taylor’s gold medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The surprise of the day
Great Britain’s Welsh girl Lauren Price is the defending AIBA Women’s World Champion at the middleweight (75kg) who eliminated Netherlands’ Nouchka Fontijn in an exciting Olympic semi-final in Tokyo. The 27-year-old boxer faced with China’s Li Qian in the final of the Games and expected a hard battle against the 2018 AIBA Women’s World Champion. The Rio 2016 Olympic Games bronze medallist Chinese boxer surprised to the strategy which Price used in the final. The Welsh boxer was patient and she tried to win the Olympic final with the same tactic what Li Qian used. The taller Chinese could not use her longer hands in the first round against the Welsh boxer who waited for the best counter-attacking moments. Price is a fantastic fighter but today she used her tactical repertoires to control her Olympic final against the Asian Champion. Price overcame the Chinese boxer’s attacks in the third round and the Welsh boxer used her strengths to beat the experienced Li Qian. The final verdict was unanimous decision in the favour of Price who won Great Britain’s second Olympic gold medal in Tokyo after Galal Yafai.
