Boxing at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's lightweight

Women's lightweight boxing at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
Venue	ExCeL Exhibition Centre
Date	5 to 9 August 2012
Competitors	12 from 12 nations
Medalists
Katie Taylor   Ireland Sofya Ochigava   Russia Mavzuna Chorieva   Tajikistan Adriana Araujo   Brazil
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The women's lightweight boxing competition at the 2012 Olympic Games in London was held from 5 to 9 August at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre.

For the first time at an Olympic Games, the ten men's boxing events were joined by three women's events: flyweight, middleweight and lightweight. ^{[1] [2]}

Katie Taylor from Ireland won the gold medal — the first of the 2012 Games for the country. Taylor defeated Russia's Sofya Ochigava in the final. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

Bronze medals were awarded to both semi-final losers: Adriana Araujo from Brazil and Mavzuna Chorieva from Tajikistan — the latter being the country's only medal at the 2012 Games.

Competition format

The competition consisted of a single-elimination tournament. Bronze medals were awarded to both semi-final losers. Bouts were four rounds of two minutes each. ^[6]

Schedule

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+01:00)

Date	Time	Round
Sunday 5 August 2012	14:30	Round of 16
Monday 6 August 2012	14:30	Quarter-finals
Wednesday 8 August 2012	14:00	Semi-finals
Thursday 9 August 2012	16:45	Final

Results

	Round of 16					Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Final
						Katie Taylor  (IRL)		26
	Quanitta Underwood  (USA)		13			Natasha Jonas  (GBR)		15
	Natasha Jonas  (GBR)		21								Katie Taylor  (IRL)		17
	Dong Cheng  (CHN)		10								Mavzuna Chorieva  (TJK)		9
	Mihaela Lăcătuș  (ROU)		5			Dong Cheng  (CHN)		8
						Mavzuna Chorieva  (TJK)		13
																Katie Taylor  (IRL)		10
																Sofya Ochigava  (RUS)		8
						Mahjouba Oubtil  (MAR)		12
	Saida Khassenova  (KAZ)		14			Adriana Araujo  (BRA)		16
	Adriana Araujo  (BRA)		16								Adriana Araujo  (BRA)		11
	Alexis Pritchard  (NZL)		15								Sofya Ochigava  (RUS)		17
	Rim Jouini  (TUN)		10			Alexis Pritchard  (NZL)		4
						Sofya Ochigava  (RUS)		22

International media coverage of Taylor

Katie Taylor's Olympic boxing success led to inaccurate coverage in the international media. While previewing her semi-final bout, The Daily Telegraph , a conservative English newspaper, incorrectly referred to Taylor as "British", prompting fierce criticism from other media outlets, and an apology from the Telegraph. ^{[7] [8] [9]} Fairfax Media of Australia also issued an apology, after articles published in The Age , Brisbane Times and The Sydney Morning Herald were widely condemned as "lazy stereotyping" of the Irish. Irish Ambassador to Australia Noel White issued a formal complaint about the article's reliance on Guinness, whiskey and potatoes to make a story. ^[7] USA Today was criticised after its article said: “Back home on the emerald-green isle, pints of Guinness flowed freely, perhaps enough to replenish the Irish Sea. The "punters" inside betting parlors [sic] wagered pounds [sic] as if they were bits of candy. It is not hyperbole to suggest that, when Taylor entered the ring, the weight of a prideful, scuffling nation rested on her muscular shoulders.” ^[7] Also, Australian commentator Russell Barwick provoked "fury" ^[10] while on ESPN, comparing Team Ireland's independence from Team GB to Tasmanian athletes not performing for Australia. ^[10]

References

1. Women's Boxing to make Olympic debut at London 2012. Archived 2012-05-01 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 2 May 2012.
2. "Ford: Women's boxing a huge success". 9 August 2012.
3. "Katie Taylor wins Ireland's first gold medal of London 2012 Olympics". Guardian UK. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
4. "Katie Taylor wins Ireland's first gold medal". BBC Sport. 9 August 2012. Archived from the original on 9 August 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
5. "World beater Katie Taylor triumphs in London". Irish Independent. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
6. Women's competition format. Archived 2012-09-19 at archive.today Accessed 2 May 2012.
7. Farrelly, Brendan (8 August 2012). "Sorry for calling Katie Taylor British after Twitter storm". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
8. Greenslade, Roy (8 August 2012). "Telegraph takes it on the nose after calling Irish boxer British". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
9. "The Daily Telegraph thinks Katie Taylor is British: Should you tell them, or will we?". The Journal. 8 August 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
10. Kelleher, Lynne (9 August 2012). "'Ireland a joke for not joining Team GB' – pundit sparks fury". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 9 August 2012.