Canadian boxers punch their ticket for Summer Olympics

Three Canadian boxers have booked their ticket to the Rio Olympics after wins at the 2016 American qualification tournament in Buenos Aires.

Two-time world champion Ariane Fortin-Brochu (75 kilograms), two-time Pan Am Games champion Mandy Bujold (51 kg) and Arthur Biyarslanov, the 2015 Pan Am Games champion at 64 kilos, all qualified for this summer’s Games on Thursday.

Bujold, from Kitchener, Ont., defeated Brazilian Grazieli Jesus de Sousa 3-0 in their semifinal bout to advance to Saturday’s final, ensuring a top-two finish and with it a place in the Rio Games tourney.

Bujold, currently ranked fourth in the world, had missed out on competing at the 2012 Olympics. Following her win, Bujold sent out a tweet celebrating her achievement.

In an interview with Kitchener’s 570 News on Friday, Bujold said missing the Olympics four years ago was “heartbreaking” and caused her to ask, “am I really going to put another four years into this?”

“I sat down with my family and made those changes that I needed to make and you know what, I just pushed forward and never gave up. And I think that’s what’s so exciting about this is the fact that I’ve had to work for every single moment of this,” she told 570 News host Eric Drozd. “Now it’s just like amazing that this is really happening. It doesn’t feel real yet. I think it’ll sink in eventually, but it’s everyone’s goal to get to the Olympics — that’s the big stage. It’s what everyone wants to do so it’s really exciting and I’m looking forward to it.”

Meanwhile, Canadian teammate Fortin-Brochu came out on top in a closely contested fight in the 69-75 kg division against Brazil’s Andreia de Oliveira Bandeira, winning the bout 2-1 to secure her Olympic berth.

Fortin-Brochu also missed out on the chance to compete in the 2012 Olympics in London, when women’s boxing made its debut, when she was beaten by friend-turned-foe Mary Spencer at the Canadian Olympic trials.

The devastating loss was documented in the film Last Woman Standing, and following her defeat, Fortin-Brochu contemplated quitting the sport or defecting to Lebanon in order to compete in the Olympics, wrote Sean Fitz-Gerald in a story for the National Post.

But in 2013, she defeated Spencer during the Canadian championships and the national team selection tournament, and went on to compete at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the world championships, where she won bronze. With the win in Buenos Aires, the Quebec City native earned her long-awaited Olympic debut.

On the men’s side, Toronto’s Arthur Biyarslanov, the Pan Am Games champion at 64 kilos, beat Guatemalan Carlos Tobar Romero 3-0 in his semifinal.

The 20-year-old boxer, nicknamed “The Wolf,” was born near the Chechen region of Russia, but his family fled the area and he arrived in Canada at the age of 10.

Canada’s head coach Daniel Trepanier was pleased with his team’s results.

“We had a good training camp before coming to Argentina. All the athletes on the team performed at the best of their potential,” he said in an email Friday. “With three athletes already qualified and maybe one tomorrow in the bronze matches at 60kg we are really happy with those results.”

Canada’s David Gauthier (60kg) lost his semi against Luis Cabrera, the No. 1 seed from Venezuela, but as the top three boxers in each category qualify, a bronze would earn him a spot.

Four years ago, Canada sent three boxers to the London Olympics and in 2008 only one attended the Games. Canada last won an Olympic medal — silver for David Defiagbon — in 1996 in Atlanta.