Canadian fighter Fortin knocks out adversity
Nothing less than gold medal is her goal at Summer Games
MONTREAL— Time, patience and a heavy dose of resilience proved to be a winning combination for Olympic boxer Ariane Fortin.
The fighter from St. Nicolas, Que., wasn’t sure if she had a future in boxing when she lost to Mary Spencer at the Canadian trials for the 2012 Olympics in London.
But the two-time world champion in 2006 and 2008 decided to give it one more try.
“The only time I really thought about quitting boxing was after the London Games,” said Fortin. “I told myself I’d go to the Canadian championships one more time and if I couldn’t beat Mary, I’d stop.”
Quitting was a real possibility, to the point that even though she needed new headgear, she decided not to spend the $130 since she thought she might never need to use it again.
Everything changed when she beat Spencer not once but twice to take over her spot in the middleweight division (75 kg) on the national team.
That got the 31-year-old back to the gym for some serious training.
“From that point on, I was committed right up to Rio,” she said of the 2016 Olympics, where she will be part of a three-member Canadian boxing team with Mandy Bujold of Kitchener, Ont., and Arthur Biyarslanov of Toronto.
“It was clear. I wanted to go to the Olympics. I accomplished a lot in my career but what was missing was the icing on top — the Olympics.”
That’s not to say she never questioned her decision.
“The first year back on the international scene was tough,” Fortin recalled. “I hadn’t fought in many tournaments when I was on the B team while Mary did them all on the A team. The calibre was a lot higher. I was a little less confident.”
Fortin finished third at the world championships and second at both the Pan Am Games and the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
And last March she defeated Andreia de Oliveira Bandeira in the semifinals of a qualification tournament in Argentina to earn her spot at the Rio Olympics.
“I was really proud of how I persevered and what I went through to get there,” she said. “It was really hard.
“In 2012, I knew I was at the top level but I wasn’t on the Olympic team. Now it’s official, in black and white. I belong with the best. There’s only 12 in my weight class (in Rio) and I’m one of them.”
She says she’s aiming for nothing less than gold.
Fortin feels her last bout at the qualification event, even though it was a loss, gave her valuable information on world No. 1 and defending Olympic champion Claressa Shields of the United States.
“That bout made me realize that I can beat her,” said Fortin. “Before I’d say that and maybe even believed it, but this time I really felt it in the ring — that we are at the same level and I can beat her. That it’s doable and it’s realistic to think that I can. That made me want to get back in the gym and train even harder.”
Women’s boxing made its debut at the London Games.
For a second Olympics in a row there are only three weight classes, but that is expected to rise to five for the 2020 Games in Japan.
Men fight in 10 divisions.