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Friday, 28 October 2005 |
International Olympic Committee say no to women's boxing in 2008
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided not to include
women's boxing at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China but IOC
director of sport Kelly Fairweather insists the sport could still make
its debut in London in 2012.
"We'll continue to review requests, but did not feel it merited
inclusion in 2008," said Kelly Fairweather.
The sport has become increasingly popular in recent years thanks to boxers like Muhammad Ali's daughter, Laila Ali.
Meanwhile, the IOC executive board has continued its push to have more
women in general competing in the Olympics. In Athens, 59% of
competitors were men, while only 41% were female, and this is something
the IOC wishes to correct the balance on.
Therefore, demands to increase the number of teams in women's football,
hockey and handball have all been approved by the board. All three
sports have been increased from 10 to 12 teams and an extra 80 women
will compete in Beijing.
The extra hockey places will boost Great Britain's chances of competing
- they sat out the Athens Games after missing the cut-off by two places
in the qualifying tournament.
New for Beijing in 2008, will be a women's 3,000m steeplechase and a
10km open water swimming event for both men and women. While the
doubles events in table tennis are also set to be replaced by men's and
women's team events.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 28 October 2005 )
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