Triumph in Sofia: the Russian boxing team took 15 medals of the European Championship

Russian boxers won the medal standings of the European Championship in Sofia

The European Boxing Championship, held from 17 to 25 September in the Bulgarian capital under the auspices of the World Boxing organization, ended with a confident victory of the Russian team in the team competition. The Russian team won 15 medals: seven gold, five silver and three bronze. This result was the best in the tournament both in the number of awards of the highest dignity and in the total number of medals.

The competition became the first major adult tournament after a long break, in which Russian athletes competed without restrictions. Earlier, World Boxing announced full admission of boxers from Russia, and at the championship in Sofia, the national team was presented with a flag and anthem.

In the men’s part of the tournament, the Russians won five gold and two silver medals, which was the best indicator among all teams. In women's competitions on account of Russian athletes two gold, three silver and three bronze awards. In terms of the number of victories among women, the Russian team was ahead of only the team of Turkey, which has three gold medals.

The second place in the overall medal standings was taken by the Turkish team, which won four gold, one silver and five bronze awards. The team of Azerbaijan closed the top three with two gold, one silver and two bronze medals.

The Secretary General of the Russian Boxing Federation Alexander Besputin assessed the performance of the national team at the European Championship by the maximum score. He said he was satisfied with all the boxers without exception, including those who failed to win because each of them fought to the end. Besputin also noted that the first team place was an important incentive for the further development of boxing in the country, and expressed gratitude for the support and contribution to the development of this sport in Russia and the world, including the President of the International Boxing Association Umar Kremlev.

Two-time Olympic champion Oleg Saitov in an interview with TASS stressed that the Russian team confirmed the status of the strongest on the continent. Russia has historically held a leading position in European boxing, and the current result is a natural confirmation of this status after a period of restrictions. Saitov also drew attention to the fact that the athletes behaved with dignity and did not succumb to possible provocations.

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World champion and two-time European champion in amateur boxing Konstantin Ju in comments to TASS called the final result of the national team good, especially considering that boxers have long been deprived of the opportunity to compete in international competitions. Ju expressed confidence that a successful return to the European arena will be the starting point for a new stage in the development of Russian boxing.