Karriss Artingstall collected Team GB’s first confirmed boxing medal of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with bronze in the women’s featherweight division.
The 26-year-old lost to Japan’s Sena Irie in a tight semi-final but takes home Team GB’s 28th medal of the Games.
Artingstall, a gunner in the British Army, lost the first round 10-9 but came out firing thereafter, winning the second on four of the five judges’ scorecards.
The third could have gone either way, with the home boxer getting the nod by the tightest of margins, 3-2 on a split decision.
Artingstall just missed out on the comeback but starts the Team GB boxing medal train, with more set to follow in the coming days.
Pat McCormack, Ben Whittaker and Lauren Price are already guaranteed Olympic medals with other boxers also looking to take their place on the podium.
Artingstall, 26, from Macclesfield, said: “I knew it was close, I started slowly and catching up is a nightmare. Ask any boxer in the world, dropping that first round and trying to catch up is absolutely horrible.
“I tried my best and managed to pick it back up in the second and I know not many girls can match my fitness so I thought I’ll stick it on her chest – I was getting caught here and there – and I was doing well. But I am not going to moan about the decision.
“It felt very close, I thought I did enough but it goes to show winning that first round makes a hell of a difference.
“I made a mess in the qualifiers in Paris and my goal coming here was to get on the podium and correct a few wrongs.
“It shows I am not to be messed with, I am not here to make the numbers up.
“I have been on the GB programme for two-and-a-half years and I am a World and Olympic medallist. Come Paris [2024], I will be taking that title.
“This Games has shown I can mix it with the top girls and I have that belief. Don’t get me wrong, they will always be hard fights but I think I can edge them and win the fight.”
Courtesy of Team GB
