Finally had a chance to read through the excellent Al Jazeera look at women's amateur boxing in the U.S, Beautiful Brawlers'. Any true sports fan must recognize how it is very inspiring to read and hear of such dedication of athletes to pursue competitive dreams despite the obstacles. And, unfortunately, these women so often face obstacles that their males counterparts don't - lack of funding, lack of respect, lack of access to training and coaches, lack of exposure - all of which are frustratingly intertwined and probably seem never-ending. Much of that is outlined in the article.
Much of the headlines coming out of London 2012 were focused on the then great news of the fact alone that they were competing. And compete they did, winning headlines, creating drama and drawing the attention of would-be detractors. Overall, it was largely positive. Which obscures the fact that there is a lot of work to be done in equality.
On the Olympic stage, 250 men compete across 10 weight classes. On the women's side, there are only 36 fighters across three weight classes. With only those three classes compared to 10 on the competitive AIBA amateur circuit, a vast number of fighters have to decide to switch weight from their normal class in order to compete at the Games. Which, in turn, potentially causes clashes between fighters not used to their Olympic playing weight. That is certainly not a situation the men would stand for, so why would AIBA allow the women to? The IOC's pressure to cap total boxing athletes at 286 across both genders should spur pressure on AIBA to better allocate classes and gender split.
Granted, women's boxing on the global stage is a new phenomenon. But the clock is ticking, and with pressure only to intensify as the sport's popularity grows. One might not have much faith in an old bureaucracy of the IOC and the AIBA (not to mention an old boys club), but it will be interesting to see in subsequent Games how the sport will develop.
Much of the headlines coming out of London 2012 were focused on the then great news of the fact alone that they were competing. And compete they did, winning headlines, creating drama and drawing the attention of would-be detractors. Overall, it was largely positive. Which obscures the fact that there is a lot of work to be done in equality.
On the Olympic stage, 250 men compete across 10 weight classes. On the women's side, there are only 36 fighters across three weight classes. With only those three classes compared to 10 on the competitive AIBA amateur circuit, a vast number of fighters have to decide to switch weight from their normal class in order to compete at the Games. Which, in turn, potentially causes clashes between fighters not used to their Olympic playing weight. That is certainly not a situation the men would stand for, so why would AIBA allow the women to? The IOC's pressure to cap total boxing athletes at 286 across both genders should spur pressure on AIBA to better allocate classes and gender split.
Granted, women's boxing on the global stage is a new phenomenon. But the clock is ticking, and with pressure only to intensify as the sport's popularity grows. One might not have much faith in an old bureaucracy of the IOC and the AIBA (not to mention an old boys club), but it will be interesting to see in subsequent Games how the sport will develop.
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