Team USA’s last man punching, Omari Jones, earns bronze after SF
Team USA’s welterweight Omari Jones may have lost his semifinal bout to Uzbekistan’s world champion Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev, but he leaves with the lone boxing medal his home country was awarded at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Ending a lackluster Olympics for Team USA’s fresh-faced boxing squad, Omari Jones lost a hard-fought semifinal against Uzbekistan’s Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev by split decision, 3-2.
By advancing to the semifinals, Jones had secured a bronze medal — one of two awarded per boxing event, and the only boxing medal Team USA secured at the 2024 Paris Games.
But at just 21 years old, the Floridian has plenty of time to sharpen his skills and pound the punching bag before (hopefully) going for gold — again — at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where he’ll be the local hero.
SEE MORE: Ireland’s Kellie Harrington defends lightweight boxing gold
Harrington wins second consecutive gold
Ireland’s Kellie Harrington beat Yang Wenlu of China by split decision in the final of the lightweight category at the Paris Olympics to retain her crown on Tuesday and become the first Irish boxer to win back-to-back gold medals.
After clinching victory, Harrington said she waOmaris hanging up her gloves.
“The last hurrah, I’m done. I’ve always said I want to retire a champion, that’s it,” Harrington told Irish national broadcaster RTE.
“It just gives hope to all these young kids, all these teenagers. It gives hope to the people of Ireland, but this one was for me.”
Brazil’s Beatriz Ferreira and Taiwan’s Wu Shih-yi claimed the two bronze medals on offer after losing their semi-final bouts against Harrington and Yang respectively.
Ex-world champion Harrington, who impressed in a convincing win over Tokyo silver medalist Beatriz Ferreira in the semifinals, faced Yang in the light welterweight final at the 2016 World Championships in Kazakhstan.
On that occasion, the Chinese boxer won, but eight years later and fighting at a different weight, Harrington was a much tougher proposition.
She won the first two rounds with relative ease, gliding around the ring with her silky footwork and peppering her opponent with shots from range.
Perhaps hoping to sign off her amateur career with a bang, Harrington was less careful in the final round and adopted a more aggressive approach, which resulted in her losing the round, though the damage was already done for Yang.
A delighted Harrington, roared on by a sea of Irish fans at Court Philippe-Chatrier, embraced her coaches in her corner before falling to her knees in the ring and thumping the mat.
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