Boxing at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Boxing at the 2008 Summer Olympics

The boxing events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China happened at the Workers Indoor Arena. Boxers from many countries competed in eleven different weight groups, and only men could compete. These games were special because they were the last time only men could box in the Olympics. After this, the International Olympic Committee decided to add female boxing events starting with the 2012 London Olympics.

In Olympic boxing, things are different from other sports. Boxers who lose in the semi-finals both receive bronze medals. This means reaching the quarter-finals is like fighting for a bronze medal, the semi-finals are like fighting for silver, and the final is for the gold. Because of this rule, 44 medals were given out in total, with 22 of them being bronze.

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China	2	1	1	4
2	Russia	2	0	1	3
3	Italy	1	1	1	3
4	Mongolia	1	1	0	2
	Thailand	1	1	0	2
6	Great Britain	1	0	2	3
7	Kazakhstan	1	0	1	2
	Ukraine	1	0	1	2
9	Dominican Republic	1	0	0	1
10	Cuba	0	4	4	8
11	France	0	2	1	3
12	Ireland	0	1	2	3
13	Armenia	0	0	1	1
	Azerbaijan	0	0	1	1
	India	0	0	1	1
	Mauritius	0	0	1	1
	Moldova	0	0	1	1
	South Korea	0	0	1	1
	Turkey	0	0	1	1
	United States	0	0	1	1
Totals (20 entries)		11	11	22	44

Medal summary

The boxing events at the 2008 Summer Olympics happened in Beijing, China, at the Workers Indoor Arena. Boxers competed in eleven different weight classes, and all of them were for men. These were the last Olympics where only men could compete in boxing, because women were allowed to join starting in the 2012 London Olympics.

Events

• Light flyweight (−48 kg)
• Flyweight (48–51 kg)
• Bantamweight (51–54 kg)
• Featherweight (54–57 kg)
• Lightweight (57–60 kg)
• Light welterweight (60–64 kg)
• Welterweight (64–69 kg)
• Middleweight (69–75 kg)
• Light heavyweight (75–81 kg)
• Heavyweight (81–91 kg)
• Super heavyweight (+91 kg)

Qualifying criteria

Each country could send only one boxer for each weight class. The host nation, China, had special rules about how many boxers they could enter. Some spots were decided at big boxing tournaments around the world.

The main ways boxers could earn a spot were through the 2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships and other tournaments in Africa, America, Asia, and Europe. There was also a tournament for Oceania in 2008.

* Two additional places will be awarded by Tripartite Invitation Commission, so the athlete quota will be 286

Participating nations

The boxing events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, happened at the Workers Indoor Arena. Athletes from many countries competed in eleven weight classes. All the competitors were men. Women were not included in Olympic boxing until new events for them were added in the 2012 London Olympics.