Australia name largest-ever Olympic boxing team for Paris 2024

Australia will be sending a 12-member-strong boxing team to the Paris 2024 Olympics, marking their largest-ever contingent in the sport in any edition of the Summer Games to date.

The biggest Australian boxing contingent seen at the Olympics previously was 11, at London 2012. Five Aussie boxers, meanwhile, participated at Tokyo 2020.

All 12 selected boxers secured quotas to Paris 2024 with their performances in the Oceania qualifiers at the 2023 Pacific Games in Honiara. The team nominated by Boxing Australia was officially confirmed by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) on Friday.

The Paris 2024 squad includes Marissa Williamson Pohlman, who is on course to become the first Indigenous Australian woman to box at the Olympics.

“It feels amazing, this is a dream come true for me, my family and my community,” Marissa said. “To be the first Indigenous woman to qualify for the Olympics in the sport of boxing is one of the biggest achievements of my life. I know there are young ones looking up to me and I take that very seriously.”

Tina Rahimi, meanwhile, will be the first Muslim Australian boxer to compete in the Summer Games.

“It’s really empowering to know there’s people around the world that look up to us, see us breaking barriers, to know we’re capable of doing anything, while staying true to ourselves,” Rahimi said. “I’ve found people will respect you for staying true to yourself.

“There’s so much respect in this boxing team, that helps us to lead by example. This team is so tight, we’re each other’s family, and we’re coming for it all in Paris!” Rahimi added.

World Championships silver medallist Caitlin Parker, who featured in Tokyo, is also in the squad. She will become the first women’s boxer from Australia to compete in more than one Olympic Games.

With as many as six women’s boxers in the Paris-bound squad, this will also be the biggest female contingent Australia has ever fielded at the Olympics, eclipsing the two from Tokyo 2020.

Besides Parker, Harry Garside is the only other boxer in the squad with prior Olympic experience. Garside won the bronze medal in the men’s 63kg category at Tokyo 2020 to clinch what was Australia’s first Olympic medal in boxing since 1988.

The 21-year-old South Australian Callum Peters from, who will box in the men’s 80kg division, is also the first Indigenous men’s athlete selected for the Australian team for Paris.

Peters made a huge impact at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham two years back, winning a silver medal on his CWG debut. He narrowly lost the men’s 75kg final to Scotland’s Sam Hickey.

The boxing competition at the Paris 2024 Olympics will be held from July 27 to August 10.

Australian Paris 2024 Olympics boxing team

• Monique Suraci (women’s 50kg)
• Tiana Echegaray (women’s 54kg)
• Tina Rahimi (women’s 57kg)
• Tyla McDonald (women’s 60kg)
• Marissa Williamson Pohlman (women’s 66kg)
• Caitlin Parker (women’s 75kg)
• Yusuf Chothia (men’s 51kg)
• Charlie Senior (men’s 57kg)
• Harry Garside (men’s 63.5kg)
• Shannan Davey (men’s 71kg)
• Callum Peters (men’s 80kg)
• Teremoana (men’s +92kg)