Cuba Has Lifted A Ban On Women Competing In Boxing Tournaments For The First Time In 60 Years
Previously, boxing had been considered “too dangerous” and women were “too pretty” to take part in the sport.
Cuba has announced that women boxers can finally compete in tournaments, lifting a six decade ban on Dec. 5, 2022
Since Fidel Castro’s revolution in 1959, women had not been allowed to participate in boxing competitions because the sport was considered “too dangerous”.
In fact, Fidel Castro’s wife, Vilma Espin, had believed women’s beauty would be tarnished by boxing.
Previously, women in Cuba were forced to move overseas if they wanted to become elite boxing athletes.
However, the ban was lifted after Cuba approved a new Family Code, which provided more rights to the LGBTQ community, women, children and the elderly.
The vice president of Cuba’s Institute of Sport, Ariel Sainz, said the new law helped provided the legal foundation to lift the ban.
“Without a doubt this is an important step,” Sainz said during the announcement on Dec. 5.
He added the institute would hold an exhibition event to create a “national pre-team” to represent the country internationally.
Meanwhile, women boxers in Cuba are overjoyed that they can now compete and can’t wait to win medals.
“If everything goes well,” boxer Idemalis Moreno, said, “I could represent my country in an Olympic, Pan-American, or Central American Games.”
“We’ll see if we can contribute with as many achievements as the male boxers who have brought so many medals for boxing and for the Cuban delegation.”
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced in 2009 that women would be permitted to participate in the Olympics, but it wasn’t until the London 2012 games that the first female boxers were seen competing.
