Expert: Melanie Ley - 8/26/2008

Question
i realise to qualify for the olympics you must win national tournements throughout europe and america etc...

1 - Can anyone qualify for the nationals ?
(after the initial 11 fights required to become an open boxer)

2 - what rank must you be in the nationals to qualify for the olympics ?

3 - if you fail do you just keep trying to become the national champion to qualify for the olympics ?


Answer
In order to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Boxing team, you should have, at least, 9 or more years of boxing experience, including national and international tournaments.  

In order to qualify for the U.S. Championships and Golden Gloves Nationals, you must win the local and regional tournaments in order to compete at the national level.  To qualify for the National PAL, you only need to have 5 scored bouts in your passbook.  

To qualify for the Olympic Trials, you must win one of these spots in the designated qualifying year:  Champion at National PAL, Golden Gloves, Eastern, Mid-Western or Western Trials and Armed Services.  You must also either win the gold or the silver at the US Championships.  

To make the U.S. Olympic team, you must win the Olympic Trials and then qualify in the Americas qualifiers.  

As you can see, ranking and only winning national tournaments does not qualify you.