From six medals to one: What went wrong for Team GB’s Olympic boxers?

After a haul of six medals in Tokyo three years ago, GB’s boxers leave Paris with just one: Lewis Richardson’s well-earned bronze

The Olympic dream finished for Lewis Richardson late on Tuesday night in Paris, in the semi-final of the light-middleweight division.

Richardson was beaten 3-2 by Mexico’s Marco Verde Alvarez inside the exceptional main court at the Roland Garros tennis centre. He became the fifth of six GB boxers to be eliminated by the heartbreaking 3-2 split decision margin.

It was a close fight, but Richardson had a good third and final round and appeared to have done enough to deserve the verdict. The Mexican was exhausted and holding on during the last minute of a quality fight. It was not a blatant robbery, but it was very harsh on Richardson.

“I’m devastated and will need to watch it back,” said Richardson. “I can still look back with pride on the Olympic experience.” Richardson will collect a bronze, the only GB medal.

In Tokyo, three years ago, the team of 11 managed to win six medals, including two golds. Since that glorious haul behind closed doors, 10 of the 11 boxers turned professional. The professional defections were just part of the problem; the short three-year cycle and exclusion – for political reasons – from the world championships restricted the boxers from gaining valuable experience.

Richardson was the last of the six GB boxers to take to the ring and boxed with calm and skill to win twice and reach the semi-final against the Mexican. In his opening fight, he remained cool under extreme pressure when a defeat would have led to some severe and unnecessary criticism.

There will still be a lot of talk about the defeats and that is understandable, but the draw was harsh and the losses both tight and controversial. The Rosie Eccles loss was a shocker, the others were extremely close.

Left to right: Lewis Richardson, Rob McCracken and Rosie Eccles (Getty)

Under Robert McCracken’s guidance, the GB team has now won 15 medals, including six golds, in four Olympics; at the previous nine Olympics, the total medal haul was 10 medals with two golds. Winning an Olympic medal is incredibly difficult and just reaching the Olympics is hard; over 2,000 boxers took part in 2,115 contests at the seven global qualifiers during the past 13 months. In the end, just 249 reached Paris and the dream.

“There is never an easy fight at the Olympics,” said McCracken. And he is right, but you also need a bit of luck, and the GB boxers never had a single bit of luck. Richardson was just one point away from the final – if one of the five judges had just scored him one extra round he would have won. It was that tight.

“It’s been a great Olympic journey,” said Richardson. “I will not dwell on the loss, but celebrate the medal and the experience.” That was spoken like a true Olympic medalist.