Peamwilai's loss compounds boxing misery in Rio Games
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Peamwilai Laopeam’s quarterfinal loss in women’s flyweight division completed the Thai boxing team’s misery in Rio Games as it ensured the country failed to win any Olympic medal in the sport for the first time in four decades.
With none of four Thai fighters going beyond the last eight in the men’s competition, Peamwilai, ranked third in the 51kg category, was the only remaining hope to salvage some pride from the team’s miserable campaign in Brazil.
However, the 32-year-old, the country’s first female fighter to qualify for the Games, succumbed to a unanimous defeat to Columbia’s Ingrid Valencia on her first bout after receiving a bye in the preliminary round.
Thailand won at least a medal in boxing in every Games they participated since Payao Poontarat claimed a bronze in Montreal, Canada in 1976. In 1980, the Kingdom joined the American-led boycott of the Games held in Moscow.
