Paris, France, August 9, 2024: China’s first gold medal-winning female boxer Chang Yuan believes boxing is a great choice of sport for girls and women – and a great chance to shine in and out of the ring.
Chang boxed her way to gold in the women’s 54kg category at the Roland-Garros Stadium in Paris on Thursday in an event that also produced bronze medals for Im Ae-ji of Korea and Pang Chol-mi of DPR Korea.
When asked for her thoughts on women in boxing, the 27-year-old Chinese replied: "Boxing can make women more confident because women are perceived as more fragile in terms of shape or strength. But boxing is an excellent sport for women to participate in.”
Chang, a two-time Asian Games medallist, finished fifth in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, said she had made several changes to her style in the past three years in order to rise to the top of the podium.
"I made many changes. Mentally, I’m not as stressed out, I’m not as impatient, so in my preparation I’ve really made sure I remain calm, and I was more in control of my emotions.
"I think I’ve gained better self-control. Now I’m afforded an opportunity to self-reflect and see where I can improve."
Chang, who won Asian Games gold in Indonesia in 2018 and silver in Hangzhou last year, became China’s first Olympic champion in women’s boxing, which was introduced at London 2012.
Bronze medal-winner Im from Korea added: "I was very happy to receive all the support. People cheered for me so much. It really helped me throughout the match.
"There are not many opportunities like this Olympics; it’s like a festival. I hope there are more opportunities in the future.”
Fellow bronze winner Pang of DPR Korea said she would aim for gold next time.
"I just thought that this is great. Of course, the bronze medal is not what I wanted, but in the next Olympics I hope I can see her in the final.
"I got support from so many people, so I will let everybody who supported me wear this medal around their necks.
“In Paris I wanted to be the gold medallist but I ended just becoming a bronze medallist. The Olympics is more important than other matches, so I gave a lot of effort, but I’m not satisfied with this medal. This bronze medal is not the one I wanted, so I don’t really like this medal,” said the Pyongyang pugilist.