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Panama City – 35-year-old boxer Athena Byron She will become the first Panamanian woman to win a medal in the most important sporting event on the planet, writing her name into Olympic history. With victory this Thursday, she is guaranteed at least a silver medal in the Paris final.
Professional police officer Byron qualified for the -75kg final at the Paris Olympics on Thursday, beating Cameroonian refugee Olympic team representative Cindy Ngamba on points.
The biggest breakthrough in the Panamanian’s career was the 2014 Boxing World Cup in Jeju, South Korea, which she won and helped her to stamp her name on the world track of the sport.
After achieving outstanding performances in various competitions, she came to this World Cup organized by the World Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) as a “guest”.
In this event, she successfully passed the preliminaries and direct elimination rounds, and defeated Russian player Saadat Abdullaeva 2-1 in the final to win the gold medal.
After winning the World Championship, Byron began his winning career in the Olympic cycle until he qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
In this Olympic competition, she won ninth place. Four years later, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she won fifth place as the flag bearer of the Panama delegation and received an Olympic certificate.
The last train in Paris in 2024
Byron had been on a mission to win an Olympic medal in Paris, which she said at the time might be her last race.
“I always said this was my last time, I say it now, but God knows what will happen,” the boxer told EFE last April.
When Byron left the police force and hung up her gloves, she did not hesitate to accept the future role of “farmer”, another of her passions. Despite hinting that she would retire from boxing, the Panamanian promised to be “in the best shape” for the Olympics before heading to Paris.
Before that important event, the Panamanian seemed to be a big bet for the country, having won gold medals at the 2023 Bolivarian Games in Valledupar, the South American Games in Asuncion, the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador and a silver medal at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
Panama has won three medals in its history: two bronze medals in the men’s 100 and 200 meters by Lloyd La Beach at the 1948 London Olympics, and a gold medal in the long jump by Irving Saladino at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Soon there will be four, and it will be boxing, a sport with a long tradition in the country and with multiple world champion and Hall of Famer Roberto “Manos de Piedra” Duran as its global flagship.
A road of sacrifice
Byron, the fifth Panamanian boxer to compete in these competitions, began competing in Olympic boxing a little late, at the age of 26, an activity that she said alternated with her police work in Panama, where she currently holds the rank of sergeant.
“It’s not easy, I’ve been boxing for 11 years and (until now) I’ve seen the results,” the boxer said after competing for the second time in the 75kg category at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
He achieved everything despite the lack of support for Panamanian athletes, which sometimes forced them to make “sacrifices”, such as using their own funds to pay for part of their training.
«Many times I had to take my money. People don’t know what it’s like to be an athlete because everything comes late. When I finish my commitment, two or three months later, the support comes out, “Byron told EFE at the time.
Despite these circumstances, the boxer gave special recognition to Panama’s Olympic boxing directors, the Panamanian Olympic Committee (COP) and the National Police.
“If I didn’t have the support of the National Police, I think my preparation would have been very difficult because I would have to undergo training and shifts as a police officer,” he noted. JS
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