Boxer Tarona Taafaki has won Tuvalu their first ever Commonwealth Games medal as she took bronze in the women’s 75kg boxing division.<\/p>\n
The 20-year-old lost her semi-final bout, falling to defeat against India’s Lovlina Borgohain on Friday night after judges unanimously scored every round against her – however Taafaki still picked up a medal.<\/p>\n
She reached the semi-final via a bye, and with only five entrants in her category and Commonwealth Games rules ensuring each semi-finalist receive a bronze medal, the boxer instantly made history for her country.<\/p>\n
Her coach and father Badi Taafaki told the Press Association: “For the people of Tuvalu, this medal means everything.<\/p>\n
“We’re one of the smallest nations in the world, so a medal like this is hugely significant. We have worked so hard to get here. For me as a coach, it’s a stepping stone.”<\/p>\n
Tuvalu, a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean, is the fourth-smallest nation in the world.<\/p>\n
“When I was growing up, boxing barely existed in Tuvalu,” said Badi. “We didn’t have gloves, so we were forced to fight bare-knuckle, and hit bags filled with sand.”<\/p>\n
Twitter<\/p>\n
This content is provided by Twitter, which may be using cookies and other technologies. Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Twitter cookies. Enable Cookies<\/a> Athletes even train on the island’s airport runway, as it’s the most stable stretch of land amid the effects of climate change.<\/p>\n “Yes, we train on the airport runway,” Badi said. “When a plane comes in, everyone moves aside. As soon as it leaves, we go back on the tarmac, because there is nowhere else to train.<\/p>\n “If we can win medals, more people around the world will recognise Tuvalu and begin to understand the challenges we face because of climate change.<\/p>\n “It is very real for us. The coastal erosion is unbelievable, and the countdown is now measured in years, not decades.<\/p>\n “Some islands have lost half their land. At high tide the sea comes right through. People living on the coast can’t sleep if there’s a storm, because the waves can come straight through their homes.”<\/p>\n Taafaki is not the first boxer to win a Commonwealth Games medal without winning a fight.<\/p>\n Australia’s Taylah Robertson won bronze in the women’s flyweight category in 2018 despite losing her bout to England’s Lisa Whiteside.<\/p>\n Taafaki’s opponent Borgohain will now face Emma-Sue Greentree of Australia in the final.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Boxer Tarona Taafaki has won Tuvalu their first ever Commonwealth Games medal as she took bronze in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":722509,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-722508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=722508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/722509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=722508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=722508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=722508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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