Canadian boxer Tammara Thibeault accomplished her two missions at the Pan American Games.
The 26-year-old from Shawinigan, Que., won gold in women鈥檚 middleweight and also qualified for next year鈥檚 Olympic Games in Paris.
鈥淚t means the world,鈥� Thibeault said. 鈥淥ut of all the tournaments I鈥檝e been to, I鈥檝e been able to capture gold and I was missing Pan Ams. Now missing the Olympics, but hopefully we鈥檙e on the right path and that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e going to get.
鈥淚鈥檓 very proud of myself, very proud of my team. I couldn鈥檛 have done it alone.鈥�
Thibeault defeated Panama鈥檚 Atheyna Bylon by unanimous decision Friday in a rematch of their 2022 world championship final, which Thibeault also won.
鈥淲e did know each other pretty well. She鈥檚 s tricky boxy to fight. She鈥檚 skilled. She鈥檚 a little rough,鈥� Thibeault said. 鈥淚 was a little disappointed in my performance today. I pulled off the win, yeah, but I could have boxed better.
鈥淚 would have cleaned it up a little bit, use straighter punches, less holding, work a little bit more on the inside, be smarter tactically and not let it get so messy and so close.鈥�
The Canadian qualified for Paris with her semifinal victory the previous day. The top two fighters in most weight classes in Santiago, Chile, punched their tickets to Paris.
Thibeault will box for Canada at an Olympic Games a second time after reaching the quarterfinals in Tokyo two years ago.
Her bronze medal at the 2019 Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru, was upgraded to silver a year later because of a doping violation by an opponent.
Wyatt Sanford of Kennetcook, N.S., also won gold Friday with a unanimous 5-0 decision over Mexico鈥檚 Miguel Angel Martinez Rodriguez in the men鈥檚 light welterweight title bout.
Sanford also qualified for Paris.
Canada won a cycling gold medal in men鈥檚 team pursuit on Friday.
The Canadian team of Carson Mattern, of Ancaster, Ont., Vancouver鈥檚 Campbell Parrish, Michael Foley of Milton, Ont., and Vancouver鈥檚 Sean Richardson finished in a time of three minutes 53.593 seconds to beat Colombia by nearly nine seconds in the final.
Vancouver鈥檚 Rebecca Marino will face off against Argentina鈥檚 Lourdes Carle in the women鈥檚 tennis semifinal on Saturday.
Marino, seeded second in the competition, edged Yuliana Lizarazo of Colombia in three sets (7-5, 4-6, 6-4) in a hard-fought quarterfinal battle on Friday.
The Canadian Press
