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Medal hope Gavin out of Olympics BBC Link
Gutted to hear this news!
British gold medal prospect Frankie Gavin is out of the Olympic Games because of problems making his weight.
The lightweight world amateur champion is expected to fly home from the Team GB training camp in Macau.
The 23-year-old's exit is a huge blow for Team GB as he was one of the squad's brightest medal hopes.
He had beaten every major competitor in his Olympic class after becoming the first Briton to win an amateur world title in Chicago last year.
Gavin, from Birmingham, was supremely confident ahead of Beijing, telling BBC Sport: "I should win (at) the Olympics."
BBC boxing commentator Mike Costello said Gavin had struggled to make the weight all year.
"For the first time in his life he has been training like a professional not an amateur, and he has been getting bigger as a result and fighting a running battle with his weight."
Costello said Gavin was not able to step up to the heavier class because fellow British boxing team-mate Bradley Saunders had already qualified in the light-welterweight.
"At the Olympics, the boxers have to make the weight every day they box," said Costello. "Even he had made the first weigh-in he might have struggled afterwards. Dehydration might have become a real problem."
The lightweight world amateur champion is expected to fly home from the Team GB training camp in Macau.
The 23-year-old's exit is a huge blow for Team GB as he was one of the squad's brightest medal hopes.
He had beaten every major competitor in his Olympic class after becoming the first Briton to win an amateur world title in Chicago last year.
Gavin, from Birmingham, was supremely confident ahead of Beijing, telling BBC Sport: "I should win (at) the Olympics."
BBC boxing commentator Mike Costello said Gavin had struggled to make the weight all year.
"For the first time in his life he has been training like a professional not an amateur, and he has been getting bigger as a result and fighting a running battle with his weight."
Costello said Gavin was not able to step up to the heavier class because fellow British boxing team-mate Bradley Saunders had already qualified in the light-welterweight.
"At the Olympics, the boxers have to make the weight every day they box," said Costello. "Even he had made the first weigh-in he might have struggled afterwards. Dehydration might have become a real problem."
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