The boxer Beatriz Ferreira fell this Sunday in the light weight (57-60 kg) final of Tokyo 2020 against the Irish Kellie Anne Harrington and added a third medal for Brazilian boxing in these Games.
Ferreira, current world champion of the category, had to settle for a silver medal, improving Adriana Araújo’s bronze at the Olympic premiere of women’s boxing in London-2012.
“We are all preparing to fight for gold, the mother of all medals,” Ferreira said later. “That is the reason why you are an athlete, to reach the top, but I am happy to reach the podium.”
“Preparing ourselves during this pandemic has been very difficult and all of us who came here are champions,” she said.
The Brazilian started the fight in the lead but the Irish fighter, who works part-time in a Dublin psychiatric hospital, turned the scores around until she took the fight by unanimous decision (5-0).
Harrington, the 2018 world champion, won her first Olympic medal while the bronzes went to the Thai Sudaporn Seesondee and the Finnish Mira Potkonen.
A few hours before the closing ceremony of the Games, the last day in the Kokugikan arena began with a first round of few strokes, with both world champions prioritizing defense.
Ferreira, more agile, took control of the center of the ring but Harrington, cunning, did not allow herself to be cornered. Equality was reflected in the scores, with three judges opting for the Brazilian and two for the Irish.
In the second ’round’ Harrington took a step forward connecting several direct blows despite Ferreira’s conservative strategy.
A free hook from the Dublin boxer turned the score around and left her with a slim advantage for the decisive round.
Ferreira finally went on the offensive, unleashing her powerful short punches, but Harrington also continued to add multiple hands to the counterattack.
The Brazilian threw the rest with a push but Harrington managed to gain time until she was in the lead at the last bell.
“We are warriors”
After the verdict of the judges, Harrington burst into tears of happiness while some boos were heard from the area of the Brazilian delegation, although then both fighters hugged each other in a show of respect.
“We were the 2018 world champion and the 2019 world champion, two of the best in the world, battling for an Olympic gold medal. We are both winners, so sorry,” Harrington acknowledged.
“You have to show respect regardless of the rest. We are women, we are warriors,” Ferreira said. “We accept that one day we win and another we lose and that we have to keep fighting.”
Ferreira began striking at age four in the garage of her home where her father, Raimundo Oliveira Ferreira, who fought as an amateur and professional between the 1990s and 2000s, founded an academy for low-income fighters.
The trajectory of the boxer also led her to conquer gold in the South American Games in Cochabamba-2018 and in the Pan-American Games in Lima-2019, the first of the Brazilian women’s boxing in that competition.
With her forehead covered with a handkerchief with the Brazilian flag, Ferreira collected on the podium a medal that adds to the best harvest of her country in the Olympic Games, with a total of 21 medals, including seven golds, six silvers and eight bronzes.
Ferreira’s is the third boxing medal in Tokyo-2020 for Brazil, which in the last Games raised the first gold in its history in this sport thanks to lightweight Robson Conceição.
In Tokyo-2020, Brazil took the gold of Hebert Conceição Sousa in middleweight (69-75 kg), the silver of Ferreira and the bronze of Abner Teixeira in heavyweight (81-91 kg).
Brazil finished in fourth place on the Tokyo-2020 boxing medal table, far behind the leader, Cuba, who added four golds and one bronze.