Pan American Games 2023: A new dawn beckons for Cuba women's boxing
Cuba’s first women’s boxing team was created in December 2022 and will compete at the PanAm Games for the first time. Follow their progress in Santiago, Chile, on Olympic Channel via. Olympics.com and the Olympics.com app.
Boxing
The Pan American Games 2023 will feature female boxers from Cuba for the first time.
For a country that is synonymous with the sport - currently sitting second on the all-time Olympic gold medal list with 41 - this may seem strange.
But the Caribbean nation’s gender stereotypes in boxing mean that until this point, only men have been allowed to compete while women were confined to training.
That all changed in December 2022, when the Cuban boxing Federation lifted its ban and announced the creation of a national women’s team ahead of the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
It means that women now have the chance to emulate Cuban boxing greats like Felix Savon or Teofilo Stevenson.
“Before my dream was that they approved women’s boxing,” featherweight Karen Cantillo told Al Jazeera.
“Now that it’s approved, my dream has changed: I want to be a champion, win medals, and make history.”
Conflicting standards for women in Cuban boxing
Women’s boxing appeared at the Olympic Games for the first time at London 2012 with just three weight divisions.
Nicola Adams of Great Britain, Ireland’s Katie Taylor, and Claressa Shields of the USA took the historic golds.
But Cuban women could only look on and cheer as their male compatriots Robeisy Ramirez and Ronial Iglesias returned home to much fanfare with Olympic gold medals around their necks.
It was the same story at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, where Cuba delivered the highest number of boxing gold medals despite having no female participants in their team.
It was a frustrating time, given that Cuba’s National Sports Institute had long allowed women to compete in other Olympic disciplines including other martial arts.
In addition, the opportunities to compete had never been greater after the amount of women’s boxing divisions increased to five for Tokyo.
The reason given for installing a different policy for boxing was centred around women's safety.
However, many felt that the culture of overprotection for women stemmed from dated gender stereotypes.
But this irritation transformed into elation in December 2022, when it was announced that there would be trials for a national women’s team, with a view to competing at the Paris 2024 Games.
Not only would Cuban women finally be given the chance to represent their country in their national sport, but they could also train full-time in boxing for the first time.
“It was the first time I put on the gloves,” former karateka Lianet Gomez, who was named team captain despite only taking up the sport a week before the trials, said.
Winning Cuba's first women's Olympic boxing medal in Paris
With another weight division having been added in women’s boxing for the Paris 2024 programme, there are now 12 women on Cuba’s national team - two per category.
Just like their male compatriots, they are able to box full-time due to their modest salary.
Given that the programme was starting from scratch, expectations were measured going into the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador.
However, years of training had expedited their progress, and the team returned home with an impressive silver medal from featherweight and former housewife Legnis Cala, as well as two other bronzes.
The next big test for the Cuban women’s boxing team comes at the 2023 Pan American Games from 19-27 October, where 16 women will secure their nation’s spot at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
All the boxing action from the PanAm Games will be shown live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app.