Paris Olympics: Chinese boxer Wu hails Cuban coach’s influence on gold medal run
- Wu Yu says she felt as though winning was her mission, and did not know if it would be her only chance to compete at a Games
China’s Wu Yu said winning the women’s 50kg gold medal at the Paris Olympics had felt like a mission she had to complete, on what she thought might be her first and last appearance at a Games.
The Chinese boxer also heaped praises on her Cuban coach Raul Liranza, who started training her at the turn of last year, for taking her career to new heights.
Wu, 29, outscored Buse Naz Cakiroglu of Turkey with a 4-1 split decision win at Roland Garros late on Friday night, to become only the second Chinese woman to win an Olympic gold medal, after Chang Yuan’s a day earlier.
“I didn’t have such chances to compete in the Olympics before, so I cherished my daily training,” she said. “I kept pushing myself forward and never backed down no matter how difficult it was, for it was not an opportunity for everyone.”
From being the world champion to Asian Game gold medallist last year, and to taking the highest step on the podium in the French capital, Wu has an impressive collection of medals.
One she was all down to Liranza, who was in the corner for Mansueto Velasco, when the Filipino boxer snatched men’s light flyweight silver in Atlanta in 1996.
