Boxing: Quartet fights for last Olympic tickets

Boxing

At the second and final Olympic qualification tournament on Friday, four Austrian boxers will start fighting for the last tickets to Paris. Arsen Chabyan (-63.5 kg), Marcel Meinl (-71), Lucky Osaro Aimufua (-80) and last year’s World Championship quarter-finalist Ahmed Hagag will be competing in Thailand. A total of 28 places will be awarded in seven weight classes.

23.05.2024 13.05

Online since today, 13:05

Only boxers whose nations have not yet exhausted the maximum quota are allowed to take part in the individual categories. The Austrian association has not yet secured a quota place. In Bangkok, five tickets to Paris are available until June 2 in the weight classes of Chabyan and Meinl, four in that of Hagag and three in that of Aimufua. The Austrian quartet travelled to Thailand on May 9, where they attended an international training camp to acclimatise and prepare for the competition.

Chabyan gives himself a 70 percent chance of qualifying and is already thinking ahead. “I definitely want to bring home an Olympic medal,” the 20-year-old was quoted as saying in a press release. If it doesn’t work out this time, then in 2028 in Los Angeles, assuming boxing is still an Olympic sport then. The Armenian-born athlete has lived in Austria since he was three years old, and pneumonia set him back in his preparations. Chabyan wants to make up for the resulting deficits in fitness with speed and determination.

IMAGO/Inpho Photography/©inpho/Laszlo Geczo Arsen Chabyan is still fighting for a ticket to Paris in the class up to 63.5 kilograms

Semifinals are enough for the Olympics

The most promising Austrian is probably Hagag, who won bronze at the European Championships two years ago. It was Austria’s first European Championship medal after a 47-year break. An eye injury kept the Upper Austrian out of action for months, and he was eliminated in the quarter-finals at the Belgrade European Championships at the end of April. If the super heavyweight makes it to the semi-finals this time, that would be enough for a quota place.