Bantamweight Gary Russell Jr. will miss the Olympics after collapsing while trying to make weight, leaving the American boxing team without one of its top medal hopes. The two-time national champion was found unconscious and severely dehydrated early Friday morning, U.S. coach Dan Campbell said. Russell's roommate, light flyweight Luis Yanez, alerted the American coaches shortly after Russell returned from a run in a final effort to reach his 119-pound weight limit. Medical personnel at the athletes' village rehydrated Russell. The 20-year-old boxer wasn't hospitalized and rested Friday, unable to participate with his teammates in the pre-Olympic weigh-in. Russell, Jr. won bronze as a 17-year-old bantamweight (54kg/119 lbs) at the 2005 World Championships and reached the quarterfinals at the 2007 World Championships. Russell will need surgery on his right shoulder after the Games.
You have to qualify for any given weight division, and neither fighter went through the (very difficult) qualification process for the weight division above.
This weight-making business is shocking. Amatuers obviously don't have the proper backing to do it, even if they are coming from strong associations. Imagine he had made it into the ring in this type of condition? Poor.
Agreed. This sort of thing needs to be more carefully monitored, imo. I think they sometimes push fighters down into very unnatural weight classes, frankly.
It wasn't the coaches. It was Russell himself. He's been at 119 for years without moving up and tried to stay in place when his body didn't want to.