Claressa Shields Is First U.S. Boxer In A Century To Win Gold Twice

Man or woman.
Gold medallist Claressa Shields (USA) bites her medal from Rio 2016 while posing with her other medal from London 2012.
Gold medallist Claressa Shields (USA) bites her medal from Rio 2016 while posing with her other medal from London 2012.
Peter Cziborra / Reuters

Claressa Shields defended her middleweight title on Sunday to become the first U.S. boxer in 112 years to win two Olympic gold medals.

Shields beat Nouchka Fontijn, whose silver medal was the first by a Dutch boxer since heavyweight Arnold Vanderlyde won bronze in 1992, by a unanimous points decision.

Kazakhstan’s Dariga Shakimova and China’s Li Qian took the bronze medals as losing semi-finalists.

The last American boxer to win two golds was Oliver Kirk, who won both the bantamweight and featherweight titles at the same 1904 St. Louis Olympics, where only U.S. boxers took part.

”I want to let it be known that I’m not just a great female boxer, but I’m one of the great boxers to ever live,” Shields said after her victory.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by Bill Rigby)

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