(OCT 31) For the first time in
history the Pan Am Games featured women’s boxing as one of its
sports. For the first time in history women’s boxing will be
featured at the Olympics in London, 2012. For the first time in
history – 2 women have captured GOLD medals at the Pan Am Games.
They both hail from Ontario.
Mary Spencer of Windsor, specifically the Windsor Amateur Boxing
Club became the first woman to capture a medal – GOLD at that,
in her 75kg weight category. The last gold medal won at the Pan
Ams was in 1975. Mary defeated her Dominican opponent (Yenebier
Guillen) 15:11. Mary was also chosen to carry the Canadian flag
into the closing ceremonies.
Our second Gold medalist Mandy Bujold got her time to shine on
Saturday when she captured top spot on the podium from what was
considered a “nail biting” match. Mandy’s first and second
rounds saw the scores 1-0, 2-2. Her opponent was Ingrid Valencia
of Columbia. Third and fourth rounds saw Columbia being no match
for Ontario’s 51kg pugilist, who hails from Kitchener and trains
out of Waterloo Regional Boxing Academy. Overall Mandy proved
who deserved the Gold more with an 11:5 score.
Both Mandy Bujold & Mary Spencer are well on their way to
capturing every young girl’s dream of attending the Olympics
Both are seasoned, experienced boxers who has already added
World Championships, National championships and impressive
records under their belt.