Boxing made its first appearance at the 1904 Summer Olympics as a men's event. Due to few competitors at the time, only North American boxers competed for this edition.[3] Since the 1908 Olympics, boxing has been contested at every Summer Olympic Games besides the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, because Swedish law banned the martial arts at the time.[1]
Until 1948, losing semi-finalists competed in a match for a bronze medal. However, in 1950 the International Boxing Association (IBA) decided to discontinue the bronze medal match as the short time interval between the semi-finals and the third-place match allowed limited time for competitors to recover. In 1970, the IBA proposed for both losing semi-finalists to receive a bronze medals, which was accepted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and implemented since the 1972 Summer Olympics. Losing semi-finalists from 1952 to 1968 were also retroactively awarded bronze medals after initially only receiving Olympic diplomas.[4][5]
In 2016, the IBA allowed professional boxers to compete in Olympic events, previously being limited to amateur or state-funded boxers, for the first time.[6][7]
Events
The boxing competition is organized as a set of tournaments, one for each weight class. The number of weight classes has changed over the years (currently 7 for men and 6 for women), and the definition of each class has changed several times, as shown in the following table. Until 1936, weights were measured in pounds, and from 1948 onwards, weights were measured in kilograms.
On 23 March 2013, the International Boxing Association instituted significant changes to the format. The World Series of Boxing, AIBA's pro team league which started in 2010, already enabled team members to retain 2012 Olympic eligibility. The newer AIBA Pro Boxing Tournament, consisting of boxers who sign 5-year contracts with AIBA and compete on pro cards leading up to the tournament, also provides a pathway for new pros to retain their Olympic eligibility and retain ties with national committees.[8][9]
From the 2016 Summer Olympics, male athletes no longer have to wear protective headgear in competition, due to a ruling by the AIBA and the IOC that it contributes to greater concussion risk. Female athletes will continue to wear the headgear, due to "lack of data" on the effectiveness of it on women.[10] Also from 2016 onwards, the "10-point must" scoring system was used.[8]
The following table is ranked by the number of golds, then silvers, then bronzes.[15] Until 1948, losing semi-finalists held a bronze medal playoff; since 1952, both losing semi-finalists have received bronze medals.
As of the 2024 Summer Olympics, considering stripped and reallocated medals as of 31 December 2021.
