LAUSANNE: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Wednesday unveiled its plan for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics’ boxing tournament, which it is organising in place of amateur boxing’s troubled governing body, the AIBA.
The IOC stripped the AIBA of the right to run the sport at next year’s Games in May after an investigation into alleged serious mismanagement at boxing’s crisis-ridden ruling authority.
The IOC’s blueprint sees a significant boost in the number of women boxers to 100 out of 286, almost treble the 36 that took part at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
The Tokyo Games will feature eight men’s and five (up from three) women’s categories.
The plan is due to be ratified by the IOC this week.
Qualification, split between four continents – Africa, Europe, Asia/Oceania and Americas – will be held between January and May, the IOC’s director of sport Kit McConnell said, with a final chance to secure a ticket to Tokyo at a world championships.
In contrast, the upcoming AIBA-run world championships in Russia in September and October will not, as is usually the case, offer Olympic places.
The IOC has appointed Morinari Watanabe, Japan’s gymnastics chief, to run a task force to organise qualification and the tournament itself in Tokyo.
“These recommendations aim to keep athletes at the heart of the Olympic Games, protecting their experience and their right to compete,” said Watanabe.
“They also fully respect the principles of inclusivity and universality, increase the gender balance and establish fair participation criteria for athletes across the world, ensuring a diverse and comprehensive representation,” he added.
Tokyo 2020 event programme
The boxing tournament will be composed of 13 weight categories, 8 for men and 5 for women (compared to 10 for men and 3 for women at Rio 2016), as already approved by the IOC executive board in June 2017.
The confirmed weight categories are:
Men’s events (8)
Fly (48kg to 52kg)
Feather (52kg to 57kg)
Light (57kg to 63kg)
Welter (63kg to 69kg)
Middle (69kg to 75kg)
Light Heavy (75kg to 81kg)
Heavy (81kg to 91kg)
Super Heavy (91kg to +91kg)
Women’s events (5)
Fly (48kg to 51kg)
Feather (54kg to 57kg)
Light (57kg to 60kg)
Welter (64kg to 69kg)
Middle (69kg to 75kg)
Tokyo 2020 qualification system
The proposal includes a revised quota distribution to enhance gender equality, which would increase by 25% the women’s quota previously approved by the IOC EB in June 2017.
The overall quota of 286 athletes is maintained and will be made up of 186 men and 100 women (compared to 250 men and 36 women at Rio 2016).
The continental distribution has been based on participation and results at the past two Olympic Games and two World Championships to reflect the landscape of global boxing.
A total of four continental qualification events will be held (the Asia and Oceania event will be combined), along with a further World Qualification Event. All qualification events will be staged between January and May 2020. The host cities for the qualification events will be targeted/selected from among host countries of recent or upcoming Olympic Games.
All the proposals are the result of a consultation process led by Watanabe with various stakeholders, including from the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) and relevant boxing experts.
A boxing technical group will also assist on an administrative level to help guide the decision-making of the task force, while no professional boxing leagues or members of the former leadership of AIBA will be represented.
