We're off to the Paris Olympics: Boxing
In the run up to the Olympic Games, each week we'll be presenting the athletes who will have the privilege of competing for Belgium in Paris between 26 July and 11 August 2024. We're taking this presentation one discipline at a time... Today, it's the punch of the Belgian boxing delegation that's in the spotlight!
Both a female and two male Belgian boxer at the Olympic Games, a first for Belgium!
- Oshin Derieuw is a Belgian boxer born on 29 April 1987 in Roeselare in the province of West Flanders.
She was silver medallist in the welterweight category at the 2023 European Games in Nowy Targ, Poland, defeated in the final by Turkey's Busenaz Sürmeneli. With this excellent result, she had the honour of being the flag-bearer for the Belgian delegation at the closing ceremony of these European Games.
Above all, this fantastic performance enabled her to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024, which is a first in the history of Belgian women's boxing.
- Vasile Usturoi is a Belgian boxer born on 3 April 1997 in Bucharest, Romania, now living in Brussels.
In 2022, he won the featherweight tournament at the European Boxing Championships, defeating Armenia's Artur Bazeyan by split decision (3 judges to 2). He was the first Belgian boxer to win the European title since Marcel Limage in 1951.
He also won bronze in the featherweight category at the 2023 European Games in Nowy Targ, Poland.
He's the first Belgian boxer to be selected for the Olympic Games since 1992.
- Victor Schelstraete (-92 kg), the 28-year-old from Ghent, already a bronze medalist at the 2021 World Amateur Boxing Championships, obtained his qualification.
Good luck to these three Belgian athletes!