Hickey not hopeful for Taylor

THE CHANCES of Katie Taylor boxing for a gold medal at the London Olympics in 2012 appear to have taken a turn for the worse, according to the views of Pat Hickey, president of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI).

Hickey, who is also president of the European Olympic Committees, was speaking at yesterday’s publication of the Beijing Olympic Review. When the prospects for London were brought up, Taylor – the reigning two-time world champion – was inevitably mentioned, yet Hickey sounded anything but confident women’s boxing is poised to be sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

“It will come up at the IOC executive committee meeting in July,” explained Hickey. “The unfortunate thing is that the decision will not be made at the Copenhagen agm session, in October, where there are 113 people voting. But this decision will be made by the executive committee of the IOC, which is only a 15-person committee. The rule is that for a new sport to come into the Games, or go out, can only happen at the agm, with a vote by all members. But a new discipline within a sport is left to the competence of the executive committee.

“And unfortunately there are no great supporters of boxing on that committee. But I am working with the president of the international amateur boxing federation, pushing for women’s participation, because of Katie.”

Earlier this month the international amateur boxing federation, the AIBA, meeting in Milan, unanimously voted to send the IOC a new proposal to include women’s boxing in London, and part of that was to streamline the men’s weight categories. “That’s the other problem,” added Hickey. “When the AIBA submitted their plan to the IOC, for women’s boxing, it had only four weight categories. The IOC have now said they must have the same weight categories as the men.

“But that means the men’s category will be cut further. So that’s gone back to the AIBA, to resolve. So I’m not as confident as I was before. I didn’t know about these weight categories at the time. It all only happened in the last month.

“If the men are threatened to be cut any more, the AIBA will have to call their own agm, to ask each country are they prepared to accept that. So it’s much more complicated. I thought it was a clear thing, that whatever weight categories proposed would be accepted. But if they don’t provide the same weight categories as the men that’s seen as discrimination.”

It is difficult to see the main boxing nations agreeing to reduce the men’s weight categories at the Olympics any further, to allow the women in on a similar level, although it’s not impossible either.

Taylor, still only 22, is the World and European lightweight champion.