Fight day has arrived…
I have mostly talked about Japan and Korea as places in this
blog so far, sometimes it is better not to think about boxing apart from when
you are training, as distractions can be good; because it’s never far from our
thoughts, and always in the back of your mind, that everything you are doing,
all that work, commitment, and dedication, comes down to just 8 minutes, crazy
when you think about it!
The build up to the start of the tournament this week has
been immense, all over Jeju (the city we are in) there are tons of teams of
boxers, coaches, and support staff walking around in their national kit. It is
like a huge round-the-world buffet but for different cultures! On every inch of
space, in car parks, back streets, parks and school playgrounds, there are
teams skipping, shadow boxing, and frantically running around in sweat suits to
make weight and prepare for fights! The sheer size of the event and number of
people involved from all over the world has been overwhelming, I’ve certainly
never been part of an event so big. However, it has mostly made me very proud,
firstly it is a real indication of how women’s boxing has progressed; and
secondly I am proud to be here as a competitor and representing my country. I
watched the opening ceremony last night and it really brought it home to me
just what a huge event this is to be a part of.
In amateur boxing, you often hear people say, that it’s
possible to do well at big tournaments, but it ‘all depends on the draw.’ The
draw is just like the FA cup in football, where the numbers of the individual
boxers randomly come up and they are drawn against one another. Everybody hopes for the draw to be ‘kind’ to
them (which basically means a fight against an opponent they can beat in the
first round, to allow them to get warmed into the tournament etc.)
The draw was yesterday (Sunday,) we all waited anxiously for
the results of the draw, as much as we tried to relax we all had elephants in
our bellies! Anyway, I have drawn the number one ranked 69kg in the world
rankings, the hugely experienced World silver medallist, and current European
champion – she beat me in the Euro final in June this year. Obviously, this is
not an ideal first round draw. However, this is where sport truly tests us. Just
like I tell you all in PACE (and other students at school, too) when things are
going great, it isn’t really testing us...it’s when things get tough that our
character really comes through. And if I’m going to say that to all of you,
then I need to set that example myself. So, today (Monday) around 12-12.30 UK
time (9.30pm ish for me in Korea) I will take on the Azerbijani once again,
this time in the first round of my first ever world championships.
We have a great team behind us here, nutritionist, doctor, video
analyst, physio, sports psychologist, the best coaches in the world, and great
team mates, too. They are the people who are behind me, preparing me, and who I
trust completely to help me be victorious in this fight. I will put my faith in
them and follow their instructions, I will rise above the doubts, cast aside my
fears of losing, and focus on how I’m going to win, and for the 8 minutes that
I am in the ring, I will give absolutely everything I have to try and take a
step closer to my dream; after all, that’s all any of us can do, whether it’s
boxing or in life, we can only do our best.
Thank you so very much for your support, fingers crossed
Miss Copeland
Making weight is one of the
hardest parts of boxing…no sweets until after the tournament!
The start of the
opening ceremony last night
Sandy fighting last night,
there she is, up on the big screen!
Team GB, ready to
take on the world!!
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