The boxing program for Paris 2024 featured the same amount of weight categories as those in the previous three editions, consisting of thirteen in total. Pursuant to the International Olympic Committee's mission of attaining full gender equality, the program continued to remain updated with the number of men's weight classes reduced by one weight category contrary to the women's side's increase by one weight category for a total of 7 men's and 6 women's events compared to 8 men's and 5 women's at the previous edition.[4][5]
In June 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) barred the International Boxing Association's (IBA) rights to run and organize the tournament due to "continuing irregularity issues in the areas of finance, governance, ethics, refereeing, and judging".[6] Hence, the IOC executive board established and ratified a new qualification system for Paris 2024 that would witness the boxers obtained the quota spots through the continental multisport events, such as Asian Games, European Games, Pan American Games, African Games, and the Pacific Games.[7][8]
Uzbekistan topped the medal count in boxing, winning five gold medals (all men's). China was second with three (all women's).
Competition format
Pursuant to the IOC's mission of attaining full gender equality, Paris 2024 instituted another significant change to the boxing program, with the number of weight categories for men reduced from eight to seven, ultimately removing the Middleweight division. On the other hand, the women's weight classes witnessed a corresponding rise from five to six with the bantamweight category introduced.[4]
The male boxers contested matches in these seven weight classes:
A total of 248 quota places, with an equal distribution between men and women, were available for eligible boxers to compete in Paris 2024, almost forty fewer overall than those in Tokyo 2020. Qualified NOCs could only send one boxer in each weight category. The host nation France reserved a maximum of six automatic quota places to be equally distributed between men and women in their respective weight categories, while nine places (four for men and five for women) were entitled to eligible NOCs interested to have their boxers compete in Paris 2024 as abided by the Universality principle.[9]
The qualification period commenced in five regional multisport events (African Games, Asian Games, European Games, Pacific Games, and the Pan American Games), set to be served as continental qualifying meets, where a total of 139 spots were assigned to a specific number of highest-ranked boxers in each weight category. Following the continental phase, the remainder of the total quota were decided in two world qualification tournaments organized by the IOC in the initial half of the 2024 season, offering another batch of spots available to the highest-ranked eligible boxers in each weight division.[7][9]
