Korea's first female Olympic boxers are headed to Paris for round 2

Olympic Sports

Published: 24 Jul. 2024, 15:29

Korea's first female Olympic boxers are headed to Paris for round 2

Korean boxer Oh Yeon-ji trains in Paris on July 21. [NEWS1]

Boxers Im Ae-ji and Oh Yeon-ji will represent Korea for their second straight Games as the Paris Olympics kick off this weekend.

Im and Oh made history in Tokyo as the first-ever Korean women to have qualified for boxing at the Games, but neither advanced past the round of 16.

Boxers are separated by weight classes, and each division has medals for grabs — one gold, one silver and two bronze medals.

The men’s weight classes are 51-kilogram, 57-kilogram, 63.5-kilogram, 71-kilogram, 80-kilogram, 92-kilogram and +92 kilogram.

Women’s weight classes are 50-kilogram, 54-kilogram, 57-kilogram, 60-kilogram, 66-kilogram and 75-kilogram.

Im, 25, will compete in the women’s 54-kilogram division while Oh, 33, will fight in the women’s 60-kilogram class.

Im Ae-ji competes in the round of 16 at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Tokyo on July 26, 2021. [YONHAP]

Oh was an Asian Games gold medalist in 2018 and a two-time Asian amateur boxing champion before earning her first Olympic berth in Tokyo. She’s since earned a third Asian boxing championship gold medal in 2022 and a bronze medal at the 2023 women’s world championships in New Delhi.

And Im will compete in a lighter weight class from the one she entered in Tokyo, the 57-kilogram category.

Preliminary rounds for both the women's 54-kilogram and 60-kilogram competitions begin on July 27.

Korea has qualified athletes in boxing in every Olympics since 1984, but no men qualified for the Tokyo Olympics nor the Paris Games.

Each match has three three-minute rounds, separated by a one-minute break.

Boxers are required to wear 10- or 12-ounce gloves, depending on their weight class, and score points by landing punches to their opponent’s stomach and head.

In the Olympics, all boxers are at the amateur level.

Boxing requires speed and agility as athletes must dodge punches and get into favorable positions.

Korea has 20 medals in Olympic boxing, including three gold.

BY MARY YANG, KEVIN CHUNG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]