Astana 2016 Press Kit

May 19 - 27

Official Website: http://worldboxing2016.kz/en/

aiba.org

AIBA President’s message

Dear Media representatives!

It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the ninth edition of AIBA Women’s World Championships, which will light up Astana, on May 16-28 and will see over 300 of the world’s best women boxers compete for the title of the World Champion.

We have gone a long way in the development of women’s boxing and these Championships will be another proving point of the high level and popularity of women’s boxing all over the world. The event will be a true showcase of incredible skill, power and elegance of our sport as it will define the best women boxers in the ten weigh categories.

This edition of the Women’s World Boxing Championships will be staged in the beautiful city of Astana, which boasts vast experience in organizing major sporting events and I am confident that we will witness an excellent Championships. Kazakhstan has a long boxing tradition and we can expect thousands of boxing fans enjoying top level women boxing in the packed Barys arena.

These Championships will also provide an opportunity to twelve medalists from the three Olympic weight classes - flyweight, and middleweight – to book their flights to Rio 2016 in Brazil for August’s grandstand competition.

After the unbridled success of 2012’s introduction of the women’s Olympic competition, Rio will further enhance the reputation and standing of women in our sport as the Olympic Games represent a fantastic stage to engage the local population in boxing and to further promote our sport in Brazil and South America.

I hope you will enjoy the unique atmosphere of the Women’s World Boxing Championships and I look forward to seeing you in Astana.

Yours in boxing,

Dr Ching-Kuo Wu

AIBA President

Summary

1. Facts around the Women’s World Championships

2. Astana 2016 Edition

a. Date and place

b. About Astana

c. The venue

d. Boxers

e. Olympic quota

f. Ambassadors

g. Medals

h. Mascot

i. Competition Schedule

3. Contacts on-site during the event

4. Useful information

1. Facts around the World Championships

The 2016 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships is the 9th edition of the legendary event. It will be hosted in Astana, Kazakhstan with 326 boxers competing from more than 70 countries.

Jeju City in held the last edition in 2014, and the inaugural Women’s Championships were hosted in Scranton, in the United States in 2001. In the last 15 years, a total of 371 medals have been awarded (93 gold, 92 silver and 196 bronze). Russian athletes top the medal tally with a total of 52 including 21 gold, but if there is one name that sticks out it’s Irish Katie Taylor who will be defending her 6th title in Astana.

22 nations from all corners of the world have won gold medals, with a further 33 countries achieving at least one medal.

10 weight classes will be in action in Astana, including the 3 Olympic weight categories. A total of 12 quota places for Rio 2016 Olympic Games will be available during the Championships (4 for the flyweight category, 4 in the lightweight and 4 in the middleweight).

List of previous editions:

1. 2001: Scranton, USA 2. 2002: Antalya, Turkey 3. 2005: Podolsk, 4. 2006: , 5. 2008: , People’s Republic of 6. 2010: Bridgetown, 7. 2012: Quinhuangdao, People’s Republic of China 8. 2014: Jeju City, South Korea 9. 2016: Astana, Kazakhstan

2. Astana 2016 Edition

a. Date and place

Astana, Kazakhstan May 19 to 27

b. About Astana

The idea of a new, modern capital of Kazakhstan belongs to President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

On July 6, 1994, the Supreme Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan decided to move the capital from Almaty to Akmola.

On December 10, 1997, the capital was officially transferred to Akmola. In line with the Presidential Decree signed on May 6, 1998 Akmola was renamed into Astana. The new capital was unveiled internationally on June 10, 1998.

Astana is the northernmost capital city in Asia. At present, the territory of Astana makes up more than 722 square kilometres, its population is nearly 853,000 people. The city consists of three districts - Almaty, Saryarka and Yessil.

Astana is located in the centre of Kazakhstan in between the dry steppe zone and the grass steppe subzone. The area of the city stands above the flood plain. The Yessil River is a major waterway of the capital. The city has an extreme continental climate with cold winter and hot dry summer.

Today Astana, in the heart of Eurasia, is a venue for numerous international forums, congresses and large scale international events including Expo 2017 and a natural bridge between Europe and Asia.

c. The Venue - BARYS ARENA

The sports palace Barys Arena opened in Astana in 2015. The main hall’s capacity is about 12 000 seats. The total area of the complex is 86 000 square meters. It includes 2 ice skating rinks, 50-meter-Olympic swimming pool. The Arena is adjustable as a skating rink and can also be easily transformed for any other sports events and concerts, such as boxing.

Vertical inclination of stands, big video cube, and two bright media rings on perimeter of stands, soft and convenient seats with heating give the chance to fully enjoy all action happening on the field of play.

There are VIP seats and VIP boxes for 744 honored guests in the arena.

d. Boxers

326 boxers from more than 70 countries including previous editions gold medallits such as Katie Taylor (IRL), Clarissa Shields (USA), Marlen Esparza (USA), Stanimira Petrova (BUL), Ren Cancan (CHN), Mariia Badulina (UKR) and MC (IND) are registered to the 2016 edition.

e. Olympic Quota

A total of 12 quota places for Rio Olympic Games will be available during the championships (4 for the flyweight category, 4 in the lightweight and 4 in the middleweight).

21 boxers who already have earned their quota places for Rio 2016 after the four Continental Olympic Qualification Tournaments:

Name Country Category Zohra Ez-Zahraoui MAR 51 kg Mandy Bujold CAN 51 kg Ingrit Valencia COL 51 kg Cancan Ren CHN 51 kg Yodgoroy Mirzaeva UZB 51 kg GBR 51 kg Stanimira Petrova BUL 51 kg Hasnaa Lachgar MAR 60 kg Mikaela Mayer USA 60 kg Adriana Araujo BRA 60 kg Junhua Yin CHN 60 kg Shelley Watts AUS 60 kg Yana Alekseevna AZE 60 kg Irma Testa ITA 60 kg Khadija Mardi MAR 75 kg USA 75 kg Ariane Fortin CAN 75 kg Qian Li CHN 75 kg Dariga Shakimova KAZ 75 kg Anna Laurell Nash SWE 75 kg Iaroslava Iakushina RUS 75 kg

The last 3 places will by invitation places from the Tripartite Commission.

Total quota places for Rio 2016 for women: 36

f. Ambassadors

Women’s World Boxing Championships 2016 is the perfect platform for the promotion of women’s boxing and establishing it as an integral part of AIBA’s vision in the run up to Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Women’s boxers and R&Js were selected by AIBA to become the official Ambassadors of the 2016 edition.

Boxers:  Nicola Adams (51kg) ENG  MC Mary Kom (51kg) IND  Marlen Esparza (48kg) USA  Adriana Araujo (60kg) BRA  Stanimira Petrova (51kg) BUL  Khadija Mardi (75kg) MAR  (60kg) FRA

R&Js  Kheira Sidi Yakoub ALG  Jennifer Huggins CAN  Nataliya Tsoy KAZ

g. Medals

With a design mimicking ancient Kazakh zoomorphic patterns, the unique gold, silver and bronze medals weighing approximately 110 grams represent Scythian art, a decoration traditionally used to deliver power, good luck and protection to the wearer.

Made of Italian enamel and featuring the Women’s World Boxing Championships logo (a woman in boxing gloves surrounded by an intricate design symbolising glory) on the front and both the AIBA and the Kazakhstan Boxing Federation logos on the back, 40 of these stunning medals will be won in 10 weight divisions during the nine-days of competition.

h. The Mascot – Maya

Maya the squirrel, the friendly and sparkling face of the Championships will keep a keen eye on all bouts and entertain the home crowd. Much like all the registered women boxers, the official mascot is quick and elegant, representing the speed, grace and beauty of women’s boxing.

i. Competition Schedule Official Draw: May 18, 12h to 13h at the Rixos Hotel.

3. Contacts on-site during the event

AIBA LOC

William Louis-Marie Galina Topoleva AIBA PR & Communications Director PR Coordinator [email protected] [email protected] +41 79 794 44 95 8 (7172) 273503

Nicolas Jomard Senior Corporate and Media Relations Manager [email protected] +41 79 791 64 55

Djanaée Wawrinka AIBA Communications Coordinator [email protected] +41 21 321 27 77

4. Useful information Media seats

Floor 6th : Press Conference Room

Accreditation Center

Mixed Zone Media Entrance Media working room