Lausanne, Switzerland, October 31, 2019: Ten athlete ambassadors have been appointed by the Olympic Boxing Task Force to engage with and represent boxers in the lead-up to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
They include two Asian representatives - six-time women’s world champion Mary Kom of India and Hu Jianguan of China.
The task force has picked one female and one male athlete ambassador for each of the five Olympic continents and they will take on the role of engaging with the boxing community both in person and digitally.
They will also help the task force take into account the athletes’ voice in all areas of its planning for the qualification events and the boxing tournament of Tokyo 2020.
Morinari Watanabe, IOC Member and Chair of the Boxing Task Force, said: “We look forward to working closely with them in all areas of our decisions and event planning to make sure the athletes are not only at the centre of our work but also actively engaged in it.”
The Boxing Task Force is responsible for delivering a clear, fair and transparent pathway for boxers to qualify for Tokyo 2020 and ensuring a fair and just competition. Its creation followed the suspension of the International Boxing Association (AIBA).
The BTF is working on the organisation of the four Continental Qualification Events and one World Olympic Qualification Event, which will take place from February to May 2020 as follows. They include:
*Asia/Oceania: Wuhan, China, February 3-14, 2020, Hongshan Gymnasium.
*World: Paris, France, May 13-20, 2020, Grand Dôme, Villebon-sur-Yvette, Paris
NOTE: Participation in the World Olympic Qualification Event is limited only to those NOCs that have not yet qualified an athlete via the Continental Olympic Qualification Events in the specific weight category.
Source: www.olympic.org
