INTRODUCTION Throughout human history people have always sought to challenge themselves to compete against others and to discover the limits of their capabilities Such desires can turn destructive leading to war But the ancient Greeks also recognized the good in these human traits and it was because of them that the Olympic Games featuring running races jumping contests throwing competitions and wrestling and boxing matches began more than 2,700 years ago The ancient Olympics ended in a d 393 but the Games were revived in 1896 in hopes of promoting world peace through sports Fittingly the first modern Olympics were held in Athens Greece but they moved around the world every four years after that In 2009 it was announced that the Games would be held in South America for the first time going to Rio de Janeiro Brazil in 2016 Every 1896 Olympian received a medal reading International Olympic Games Athens 1896 4
INTRODUCTION One of the Greeks original sports boxing puts two fighters into a ring a large square mat surrounded by ropes and each tries to score points by landing punches to the other’s head or body Judges watch the bouts and award points and the boxer with the most points wins the match Fighters can also win by knocking out their opponents KO or by displaying such dominance that the referee must stop the contest to protect the beaten fighter a technical knockout TKO The sport has evolved since it was introduced to the modern Olympics in 1904 In 1984 Olympic boxers were required for the first time to wear protective headgear and in 2012 in London England women’s boxing was to be part of the Games for the first time The Olympics have introduced the world to some of the greatest boxers in history Cassius Clay Muhammad Ali Joe Frazier George Foreman and Sugar Ray Leonard all won gold medals before going on to become professional champions Boxing has also been one of the most controversial sports in the Games with incidents of biting illegal punches and corrupt judges having changed the outcome of some matches or bouts However the grace with which some of those wronged fighters handled their heartbreaks and losses has helped make boxing one of the most inspirational sports on the Olympic stage Boxing is an ancient form of competition pure in its simplicity two people fight with nothing but fists 5
CAPTAIN KIRK OLIVER KIRK UNITED STATES WEIGHT CLASSES BANTAMWEIGHT FEATHERWEIGHT OLYMPIC COMPETITION 1904 When the modern Olympics were reintroduced in 1896 they did not include a boxing competition even though it was an event in the ancient Greeks original Games Although it was a popular sport at the time organizers of the 1896 Olympics called it ungentlemanly dangerous and practiced by No boxer ever had a shorter road to Olympic gold than Oliver Kirk who won two medals with two fights 6 1 8 9 6 A T H E N S G R E E C E 1 9 0 0 P A R I S F R A N C E 1 9 0 4 S T L O U I S M I S S O U R I 1 9 0 8 L O N D O N E N G L A N D 1 9 1 2 S T O C K H O L M S W E D E N 1 9 2 0 A N T W E R P B E L G I U M 1 9 2 4 P A R I S F R A N C E 1 9 2 8 A M S T E R D A M N E T H E R L A N D S 1 9 3 2 L O S A N G E L E S C A L I F O R N I A 1 9 3 6 B E R L I N G E R M A N Y 1 9 4 8 L O N D O N E N G L A N D 1 9 5 2 H E L S I N K I F I N L A N D 1 9 5 6 M E L B O U R N E A U S T R A L I A 1 9 6 0 R O M E I T A L Y 1 9 6 4 T O K Y O J A P A N 1 9 6 8 M E X I C O C I T Y M E X I C O 1 9 7 2 M U N I C H W E S T G E R M A N Y 1 9 7 6 M O N T R E A L Q U E B E C 1 9 8 0 M O S C O W S O V I E T U N I O N 1 9 8 4 L O S A N G E L E S C A L I F O R N I A 1 9 8 8 S E O U L S O U T H K O R E A 1 9 9 2 B A R C E L O N A S P A I N 1 9 9 6 A T L A N T A G E O R G I A 2 0 0 0 S Y D N E Y A U S T R A L I A 2 0 0 4 A T H E N S G R E E C E 2 0 0 8 B E I J I N G C H I N A 2 0 1 2 L O N D O N E N G L A N D
CAPTAIN KIRK 7 the dregs of the population Boxing was kept out of the 1900 Olympics in Paris France too before finally being added in 1904 in St Louis Missouri The first boxing competition wasn’t perfect Before the advent of air travel it was a long journey for people from other countries to get to the middle of the United States So few athletes went to St Louis that all the boxers were Americans Some of the sport’s seven weight classes had only two fighters facing off for the gold medal Only two classes had more than three boxers The competition went down in history though because it featured something that almost certainly will never be accomplished again in Olympic boxing St Louis resident Oliver Kirk was in one of the two-man divisions Fighting at bantamweight a class for men weighing up to 115 pounds Kirk defeated his only competition George Finnegan by way of TKO with the referee stopping the bout in the final round Boxing weight classes were created in the interests of safe and fair competition However the sport’s rules allow fighters to move up into a heavier weight class if they think they can compete against bigger boxers Like the bantamweight division the 125-pound featherweight class also had just two entrants Frank Haller and Fred Gilmore in 1904 The crowd at the Washington University gymnasium clamored for the 20-year-old Kirk to take on the winner of that match for the gold Kirk was game and Olympic officials agreed to it After Haller defeated Gilmore he stepped back into the ring against Kirk The smaller Kirk won the bout by decision and earned a place in the history books as the only boxer in Olympic history to win two gold medals in separate weight classes in the same Games Boxing gloves were developed both to protect fighters hands and to reduce the likelihood of facial cuts
