North Boxing Hero Bang Cheol-mi Wins Bronze Medal... Defeated by Chang Yuan [Paris Olympics]

North Korean boxing hero Bang Cheol-mi won a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 4th (local time), Bang Cheol-mi lost by decision 2-3 (29-28 28-29 28-29 27-30 29-28) to China's Chang Yuan in the women's 54kg boxing semifinal held at the North Paris Arena in Paris, France. Bang Cheol-mi had previously defeated Chang Yuan in the final of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games to win the gold medal.

In the first round, Bang struggled against Chang Yuan's counter punches and was behind 1-4 in the judges' decision. In the second round, she swayed one judge's decision in her favor, making it 2-3, and in the third round, she aggressively pressed Chang Yuan and received a round decision of 3-2. However, she bowed her head after losing on the total score of the three rounds.

North Korea won silver medals in women's synchronized 10m platform diving with Kim Mi-rae and Jo Jin-mi, and in mixed doubles table tennis with Ri Jong-sik and Kim Geum-young. North Korea's medal tally for this competition stands at two silver medals and one bronze medal.