Boxing, Olympics 2024: Tearful Nikhat Zareen promises to come back stronger after early exit

It was a tearful Nikhat Zareen who promised to come back stronger and better after she exited the women’s 50kg event in the Round of 16 at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Thursday.

Zareen, a two-time world champion, faced off against China’s Wu Yu who was the top seed and the reigning Asian Games champion. The Indian boxer was on the back foot for most of the bout and ultimately lost by unanimous decision to bring the curtains down on her debut Olympics campaign.

“Sorry guys, I could not win a medal for the country,” said the 28-year-old boxer as reported by Press Trust of India.

“I have made a lot of sacrifices to reach here. I had prepared myself well mentally and physically for this Olympics.”

According to reports, Zareen had not had any food for the previous two days in order to maintain her weight. The Asian Games bronze medallist moved down a weight class from her preferred 52 kg category.

Zareen was outclassed by Wu through the latter’s footwork and defensive style and the Indian was highlighted the difference between the seedings as one possible factor for the loss. Zareen was unseeded and had played a Round of 32 match previously, where she beat Germany’s Maxi Carina Kloetzer 5:0.

“I had not eaten in the last two days because I had to maintain weight,” explained Zareen.

“I did not even have water, and only after weigh-in I had some water but I had no time to recover, I was first in the ring today.

“[For] 24 hours my mind was on this bout and I just kept thinking about it. It was a good learning experience for me. I had not played her before and she was faster. I will analyse this bout once I am home.”

For now, Zareen plans on taking some time off by spending time with family and solo travelling before getting back into training for her next competitions.

The 28-year-old boxer’s exit means that four of the six pugilists who qualified from India have been eliminated from the Paris Games. Preeti (women’s 54kg) and Amit Panghal (men’s 51kg) lost in the Round of 16 while Jaismine (women’s 57kg) exited in the opening round.