Three-year cycle and IBA split behind reduced GB boxing squad – Rob McCracken

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Rob McCracken has blamed a blend of pandemic and politics for the modest six-strong GB boxing squad that has been named for the upcoming Paris Olympics – the smallest since Amir Khan flew all the way to solo silver in Athens in 2004.

Charley Davison, Rosie Eccles, Chantelle Reid, Lewis Richardson, Pat Brown and Delicious Orie will be charged with continuing a glittering run of success stretching back to McCracken’s debut Games as performance director at London 2012.

An abridged three-year cycle due to the delay in the Tokyo Games, plus political wrangling which has effectively prevented British boxers competing in a number of high-profile competitions, have both contributed to the limited numbers.

“We have faced a lot of challenges in this cycle, chiefly because it’s been a three-year cycle which means we have had a shorter time to develop a new group of boxers,” McCracken told the PA news agency.

“Ninety-nine per cent of our number ones and our medallists leave to turn professional at the end of a cycle, which means we’re starting again, and the effects of Covid also affected our pathways for a while.

“Given that scenario, and also factoring in the tournaments we were not able to attend, it’s definitely been a challenge, and I think at the end we are satisfied that we have managed to qualify a strong team of six boxers.”

Team GB sent 11 boxers to Tokyo, where their six-medal haul was the biggest in over a century. A 12-strong team won three medals at Rio 2016 while London 2012 yielded five medals, including three golds.

British boxers have been barred from a number of competitions since the home nations split from the sport’s amateur governing body, the IBA, to join World Boxing last year, due to ongoing political issues that continue to threaten the sport’s future at the Olympics.

Davison, Eccles and Orie secured qualification after winning medals at last year’s European Games in Poland, while Reid, Brown and Richardson fought through two qualifying events to book their respective places.