Three members of GB Boxing’s women’s Olympic Squad have been selected to compete at the forthcoming World Championships in Barbados (7-19 September 2010).
Flyweight (51Kg) Nicola Adams from Leeds, lightweight (60Kg) Amanda Coulson and Welterweight (69Kg) Savannah Marshall, both from Hartlepool, will compete as part of the England team.
They will be joined by Sharon Holford and Chantelle Cameron, who will compete at Bantamweight (54Kg) and Light Welterweight (64Kg) respectively.
GB Boxing’s Performance Director, Rob McCracken said: “This is an important part of our preparations for 2012. The women’s squad have been doing well in competitions this year and this tournament will provide a benchmark of how we are progressing in relation to 2012.”
Nicola Adams, who won a silver medal in the last Women’s World Championships in 2008, said: “After being out for so long with injury, I am thrilled to be part of the GB Boxing squad and to have been selected for the World Championship. It will be a very tough tournament and I hope to be able to go one better this time.”
Savannah Marshall, who recently won a silver medal in the EU Championships in Hungary, added: “I am really excited at the prospect of going to my first World Championships. As part of the GB Boxing squad we get a lot of additional support with things like nutrition, physio and strength and conditioning. We are starting to feel the benefits of this and I feel very positive going into this tournament.”
Amanda Coulson, who lost out to the eventual gold medallist Mary Spencer in the 2008 World Championships, said: “The standard in women’s boxing is getting higher all of the time so I expect it to be the toughest tournament that I have been to. It will be a really good test and should provide all of us with a clear indication of how we are progressing in the build up to 2012.”
Adams and Coulson will compete in two of the weight categories that have been selected for the 2012 Olympic Games (51Kg and 60Kg). 19 year old Marshall, who has been selected by GB Boxing to compete in the Olympic middleweight category (75Kg), will compete at 69Kg in this tournament and move up to 75Kg in 2011.
“Savannah is young and still growing so we do not want to rush her development,” explained Rob McCracken. “She has the height and build to be a natural middleweight and we will begin the process of gradually moving her into that weight category in 2011.”
The women’s GB Boxing squad was selected in March 2010 and trains Thursday to Sunday, every other week, with the men’s Development Squad at the English Institute of Sport (EIS) in Sheffield. The squad of seven women has recently been to training camps in Crete and China.
The team for the World Championships will leave on 26 August 2010 and spend 10 days acclimatising in a holding camp in Miami before it heads to Barbados.
Since January 2008, women from Great Britain have won 23 medals in nine international competitions.