Kenyan boxer, who became a mother at 12, now a win away from Tokyo Olympics
Kenyan female boxer Christine Ongare is a win away from earning a spot at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Ongare lost to Moroccan Rajab Cheddar in the flyweight semifinal on Wednesday evening in Dakar but will face Ugandan Catherine Nanziri in the box-off on Saturday.
A win will earn her a slot at the Olympic Games.
“I became a mother at 12 and I have had a very tough upbringing. A single mother raised me and I will forever be indebted to her – she brought up my kid like her own,” an emotional Ongare told the Olympic Channel on Wednesday.
Pregnant at 12, Kenya’s “ghetto girl”, Christine Ongare is now one win from an Olympic boxing spot at @Tokyo2020 .
Full story: https://t.co/dKU0zR2Xpo pic.twitter.com/aoJG7KdtRb
— Olympic Channel (@olympicchannel) February 26, 2020
“In Eastlands many young ladies look up to me but they cannot pursue boxing or any other sport because they became mothers at a young age, just like I did, due to desperation, being raised by single parents and drug addiction. They are weighed down by the struggle to meet even the most basic needs like food for their kids and it is not easy,” she said.
“I am really hoping to make it to Tokyo. It would be a very good opportunity for me. The money I get will change my life,” she added.
Ongare became the first Kenyan woman to win a Commonwealth Games medal in boxing when she claimed bronze in flyweight category in Gold Coast in 2018.