The United States’ Claressa Shields is the first American to ever win consecutive boxing gold medals in the Olympics, defending her 2012 gold medal in the women’s middleweight on Sunday against the Netherland’s Nouchka Fontijn.
Olympic boxing 2016 results: Claressa Shields is 1st American boxer to defend gold medal
No American, man or woman, had won consecutive gold medals in the Olympics until Shields.
Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports
Shields won in London when she was just 17, narrowly making the qualification but dominating on her way through the Olympics. She hasn’t lost in the four years since, with an overall record of 77-1 in her career. She’s the second American to win two boxing gold medals and the first in more than 100 years, with Oliver Kirk winning the bantamweight and featherweight in the incredibly biased 1904 Olympics held in St. Louis.
Uzbekistan, a country that always provides strong Olympics competition in combat sports, added two golds on Sunday. Shakhobidin Zoirov took home the gold medal in men’s flyweight, while Fazliddin Gaibnazarov won gold in the men’s light welterweight. Seven of Uzbekistan’s 13 medals came from boxing, including three of its four gold medals.
The final gold medalist on Sunday was France’s James Yoka, who topped Great Britain’s Joe Joyce in the men’s super heavyweight boxing final.
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