Comments Thread For: Gold Medalist Shields Forced to Compete at Youth Level

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

Claressa Shields of Flint, Mich., is the best female amateur middleweight in the world, with an Olympic gold medal around her neck to prove it.

However, despite having already proven her ability on the grandest of stages against full-grown 165-pound adults almost twice her age, the precocious 18-year-old has been barred from competing at the highest level of the sport.

Why?

In an attempt to overhaul the amateurs for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) has implemented many changes—including an age requirement that requires a minimum of age of 19 to compete in the Elite (Senior Open) Division. [Click Here To Read More]

[anonymous2.0]

Poor logic, being good isn't measurable (how do you measure good, is there an objective number or a grade that can be assigned to being good?) And there's the case of accountability, if she got seriously hurt in the elite division critics would jump all over the age issue.

[MC Hammer]

This isn't right. She's gonna hurt those kids, and it stunts her potential since she's already beating on adults. There needs to be an exception