Light-Flyweight (≤48 kilograms), Men

Cuba’s Yan Barthelemí had more difficulty making the Cuban team that he did in converting selection to Olympic glory. The 2001 world champion lost the final of the national championship to Yorman Rodriguez early in 2004 and only made the Games after taking revenge on Rodriguez in a later bout. Barthelemí’s successor as world champion, Sergey Kazakov, was the favourite for the title with Zou Shiming of China taking the role of his closest rival for gold. In the event both were eliminated at the semi-final phase. Zou was ahead at the half way mark against Barthelemí but the Cuban rallied to post a clear points victory whilst Zakarov was the victim of a huge upset produced by the teenaged Turk Atagün Yalçınkaya. Barthelemí made another sluggish start in the final but once he found his range he was relatively untroubled in his march to the gold medal. For the 17-year-old Yalçınkaya there was the satisfaction of being his country’s youngest Olympic medallist.

This was the 1st boxing event to be concluded in Athens and it set the template for Cuban success in the rest of the tournament. Also notable was the performance of Zou who became the 1st Chinese boxer to win an Olympic medal. This was a harbinger of what was to come in Beijing and London.

In late 2006 Barthelemí and two of his team mates defected during a tournament in Venezuela. He based himself in the USA and began a career as a professional which, through 2013, met only with moderate success.