(COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.) – The newly crowned United States Olympic Boxing Team will take their first step toward Beijing on Monday, September 17 when the 11 athletes move to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. They will be the first members of the USA Boxing resident program, which is being recreated for the first time in over a decade. The 11 boxers making the move to Colorado Springs come from nine different states, but they will all share the same address for the next year as they prepare for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China..
Light flyweight Luis Yanez (Duncanville, Texas); flyweight and 2004 Olympian Rau’shee Warren (Cincinnati, Ohio); bantamweight Gary Russell, Jr. (Capitol Heights, Md.); lightweight Sadam Ali (Brooklyn, N.Y.); welterweight Demetrius Andrade (Providence, R.I.); middleweight Shawn Estrada (Downey, Calif.); light heavyweight Christopher Downs (Fort Carson, Colo.) and super heavyweight Michael Hunter (Las Vegas, Nev.); will all be returning to familiar surroundings in the Pikes Peak region. Featherweight Raynell Williams (Cleveland, Ohio); light welterweight Javier Molina (Commerce, Calif.) and heavyweight Deontay Wilder (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) will all be training at the Olympic Training Center at the first time.
“This resident program will provide much needed stability as we prepare for the World Championships and Olympic Games,” USA Boxing National Director of Coaching Dan Campbell said. “The program will enable us to monitor the Olympic Team’s training and nutrition while addressing any therapeutic needs. In addition, it will help build our Olympic family as the boxing team will enjoy the chance to train full time with fellow Olympians. I believe this will help us to showcase the Olympic Team at its best when they take the ring in China.”
The U.S. Olympic team will enjoy all the aspects of living and training at the Olympic Training Center, including sports science, nutrition, strength and conditioning, sports psychology as well as on site sports medicine. The Olympic Team will live and train at the OTC full time until they depart for the Olympic Games in the summer of 2008.
The first order of business for the U.S. Olympic Team will be preparation for the 2007 AIBA World Boxing Championships, October 23-November 3 in Chicago, Ill. The World Championships will be the first international Olympic qualifier with the top eight finishers in the light flyweight through light heavyweight division while the heavyweight and super heavyweight divisions must place in the top four to earn an Olympic berth. The U.S. team hopes the advantage of competing on home soil will help them to qualify coveted Olympic spots in Beijing.
Warren and Russell both took home bronze medalists from the 2005 World Championships while the remaining team members will all be competing in their first senior World Championships in Chicago.
The U.S. Olympic Boxing Team will be welcomed to the Olympic Training Center with a team introduction and reception at the Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center Visitors’ Center at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, September 18.