Alcinda Dos Santos is the most decorated Mozambican boxer with a world silver medal under her belt.
She’s one of the four female African welterweights who will feature in the Paris Olympics boxing tournament.
In addition to Alcinda, the other African welterweights taking part in the Games are Algeria’s fifth seeded Imane Khelif, Cape Verde’s Africa champion Ivanusa Moreira and DR Congo’s Mandela African Boxing Cup gold medallist Brigitte Mbabi.
The 30-year-old Alcinda is no stranger to the big stage. She defied all odds at the 2022 World Championships in Turkey to punch her way to the finals, losing to Ireland’s Lisa Edel O’Rourke to return home with a silver and $50,000 prize money for losing finalists.
Alcinda is currently camping at St Paul’s Dax in France with other Mozambicans participating in the Olympics including Commonwealth Games light-middleweight silver medallist Tiago Muxanga.
“I’m training with the boys here with the help of some coaches.Let’s continue to pray that everything goes on well,” Alcinda told me in an interview. She’s aiming high in Paris.
“I know they’ll be stiff competition but that does not worry me, I’m also a threat to my opponents,” a confident Alcinda said.
Alcinda’s remarkable performance at the 2022 Worlds exemplified her resilience and mental tenacity, qualities which she has relied on to overcome adversity in and outside the ring to be where she is now.
And it’s the same qualities she’s banking on for a podium finish in the Paris Olympics.
Besides the challenge within from her own African colleagues in the welterweight berth, Alcinda’s other tough opponents include the defending Olympic champion Turkey’s Busenaz Surmeneli who’s the top seed, China’s world champion Yang Liu seeded second, third seeded Brazil’s Pan American Games champion Barbara Dos Santos and from USA there’s Morelle McCane, a losing finalist to Barbara Dos Santos in the Pan American Games.
At the African Olympic qualifiers, Alcinda lost in the finals to Imane Khelif whose gold medal in Dakar has enabled her to be seeded fifth.
For all her brilliance, Khelif is in Paris amidst silent grumbling among some of her opponents following her disqualification by the International Boxing Association (IBA) in last year’s World Championships in New Delhi, India, for failing to meet the eligiblity criteria.
On the eve of her participation in the finals, it was announced that following previous tests she has higher levels of testosterone which gives Khelif an advantage over her female opponents.
While IBA has banned Khelif from their tournaments, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed her to take part in their events.
In the Dakar final, Khelif outpointed Alcinda in the final welterweight bout.
That’s water under the bridge now for Alcinda as she looks forward to her second participation in the Olympic Games, “I know it’s going to be tough but I’m ready for it,” said Alcinda who made her Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020.
“Qualifying for Tokyo was the happiest and at the same time the saddest moment for me because I contracted Covid-19,” recalls Alcinda on her low moment ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.
“I was put under quarantine, it was sad, and every day I became weaker. I went to Tokyo alone feeling discouraged because all my colleagues were already there.”
Once in Tokyo, Alcinda put all that behind her, again relying on her mental tenacity to stamp her authority reaching the quarter-finals. She first saw off Kenya’s Elizabeth Akinyi whom she easily defeated via a second round stoppage and then lost on points to China’s eventual silver medallist Gu Hong.
Despite going home empty-handed, the double African champion made history as the first ever Mozambican female boxer to step into the ring in the Olympic Games.
Coming off a dominant show at the inaugural Mandela African Boxing Cup in Durban in April this year with a gold medal and a silver in the African Games in Accra, Ghana, Alcinda is definitely a medal prospect in the Paris Olympics.
Credit: AFBC Communications
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