Claressa Shields Is USA's First Boxer To Get Back-To-Back Gold Medals
United States' Claressa Maria Shields displays her gold medals - from London and from Rio - for the women's middleweight 75-kg boxing at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
When Flint, Mich. boxer Claressa Shields won her second consecutive Olympic gold medal on Sunday afternoon, she made history and represented a hometown in turmoil.
Shields defeated the Netherlands' Nouchka Fontijn, becoming the first American boxer, male or female, to earn back-to-back Olympic gold medals.
As MLive reports, she won her first gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics at age 17. She returned to the Olympics this year at age 21, and she hasn't lost since spring of 2012. According to Detroit Free Press, her amateur record is now 77-1.
After winning the match, she did a cartwheel in the ring and ran a lap with the American flag.
“Oh, my God! Am I asleep? I think I’m dreaming!” she joyfully gasped while talking to media.
Shields was born and raised in Flint, Mich. - the birthplace of General Motors, but a city that has historically made headlines because of high crime rates. This year, the city was back in the news because of an ongoing crisis that has left its residents' water contaminated.
"I'm fighting for more than just a medal. I'm fighting for my family, I'm fighting for my future, I'm fighting for my city — to give them some hope and faith, because it’s so bad in Flint,” she told ESPN for its Body Issue. “I always fight harder than I would if I were fighting for just a medal.”
Questions are abound for Shields now. Will she become a professional women's boxer, or will she return for the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo?
“Women’s boxing is definitely growing, with it being in the Olympics and with me fighting here," Shields said after her match. “But I don’t know. I haven’t even thought that far yet. It depends on the opportunities that come here.”
Either way, Claressa Shields has made history in what has already been an incredible 2016 Olympic Games for black women from the United States.
