PARIS (Reuters) – France’s Sofiane Oumiha said his amateur boxing career had not played out quite as he imagined after his defeat to Erislandy Alvarez in the lightweight final at the Paris Games on Wednesday meant he missed out on Olympic gold for a second time.
The Frenchman, a silver medallist in Rio in 2016, was looking to become the seventh French boxer to win an Olympic gold medal.
Oumiha was given incredible support by the partisan crowd at Roland Garros, but lost by a split decision to Cuban Alvarez after getting off to a terrible start in the opening round that he could not salvage.
“Honestly, I didn’t take it well because I was seeking something big. Unfortunately, the result did not go in my favour,” said Oumiha, who has won all five of his fights as a professional.
“I can’t be satisfied with a silver medal because that’s not what I came for. This is not the end that I imagined so, for me, the end is not beautiful. But I will learn to appreciate this medal. I will bounce back but today was a bad day for me.
“I left my family, my wife, my kids. I couldn’t be there for the birth of my first child. I gave so much to boxing and I told myself that boxing would give that back to me today. Unfortunately not.”
France’s head coach Malik Bouziane was more upbeat about Oumiha’s performance.
“He has come a long way since Rio, so eight years ago. We need to put into perspective. I think a silver medal is still a good performance,” Bouziane said.
Oumiha had suffered an early exit in the Tokyo Games.
His compatriot Djamili-Dini Aboudou Moindze ended with bronze in the men’s super heavyweight category in Paris after losing to Spain’s Ayoub Ghadfa on Wednesday.
Billal Bennama, the last French boxer still remaining in the boxing competition, takes on 2016 champion Hasanboy Dusmatov in the flyweight final on Thursday.
(Reporting by Vincent Daheron and Aadi Nair in Paris; Editing by Jamie Freed)
