Sena Irie
入江 聖奈
Born (2000-10-09) 9 October 2000 (age 23)
Yonago, Tottori Prefecture, Japan[1]
Statistics
Weight(s)Featherweight
StanceOrthodox[1]
Medal record
Women's amateur boxing
Representing  Japan
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo Featherweight
Asian Championships
Silver medal – second place 2022 Amman Featherweight

Sena Irie (入江 聖奈, Irie Sena, born 9 October 2000)[2] is a Japanese retired[3] amateur boxer who won a gold medal in the inaugural women's featherweight event at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[4] She became the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing.[5]

Biography

Irie was born in Yonago, Japan in 2000.[6] She took up boxing when she was seven years old at a local gym.[6] Irie was inspired to box from the sports manga television series Ganbare Genki, which features a character who wants to become a boxer.[7] She also took her inspiration from frogs.[7]

At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Irie beat Karriss Artingstall of Great Britain in the semi-finals of the women's featherweight, and then went on to beat Nesthy Petecio of the Philippines in the final to win the gold medal.[8][9] At the time of winning her gold medal, Irie was a university student at Nippon Sport Science University.[10][11] Irie later stated that she would retire from boxing after graduating,[7] with plans to work for a company making video games.[12]

In September 2022, she announced that she would retire from boxing after her graduation in spring 2023.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b "Boxing IRIE Sena - Tokyo 2020 Olympics". Olympics. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Sena Irie". Olympedia. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  3. ^ "Japan's Irie wins women's featherweight gold". Asian Boxing Confederation.
  4. ^ "Japan's Irie wins women's featherweight gold". ESPN. 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Sena Irie wins Japan's first ever Olympic gold medal for women's boxing". Time Out. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  6. ^ a b "Meet Sena Irie – The First Boxing Gold Medalist Of 2020 Olympics". Inside the Ropes. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  7. ^ a b c "Frog-filled strategy leads to gold medal for female boxer Irie". Asahi. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  8. ^ "Featherweight (54-57 kilograms), Women". Olympedia. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  9. ^ "Sena Irie became the first female Japanese boxer to win the Olympic gold for her country". First Sportz. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  10. ^ "Olympics: Sena Irie wins maiden women's boxing gold for Japan in upset". The Straits Times. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  11. ^ "Olympics: Japan's Sena Irie wins women's featherweight boxing gold in Tokyo". Kyodo News. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  12. ^ "Japan's Sena Irie punches her way to gold in women's boxing". The Japan Times. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  13. ^ "Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Irie to study amphibians after retirement". InsideTheGames.biz. 4 September 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2022.

External links

Olympic boxing champions – women's featherweight
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