Atheyna Bylon, the first woman from Panama to win an Olympic medal

Panamanian Atheyna Bylon made history on Saturday by winning the silver medal in the 75kg boxing final at the Olympic Games, becoming the first woman from the Central American country to win a medal at the Olympic Games.

Although Bylon tried to win the gold medal, she ultimately lost to China’s Li Qian by a split decision of 4-1.

However, the 35-year-old had already been giving signs for several days that she was destined for great things, especially after beating Cameroonian Cindy Ngamba, who represents the refugee Olympic team, in the semi-finals of the competition.

Part of Bylon’s success in boxing came by chance, after she was invited to a tournament at an event organized by the Panamanian police station where she worked at the age of 23 and against all odds she had a prominent participation with the help of Melanio Flores, who also served as a sergeant of the force and is the coach of the national team as a former boxer.

“What did they see in me? A black girl with muscles. I have always been thin, I had a good body type and the guts to face things. Also, at that time I was a police officer who rode a bike,” Bylon (1.79 meters) told the press in relation to her beginnings in boxing.

The big breakthrough in the Panamanian’s career was the 2014 Jeju Boxing World Cup in South Korea, which she won and which helped put her name in the world of that sport.

After a good campaign in various competitions, she arrived as a “guest” to this World Championship, organized by the World Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA).

At this event she charted her path to the top, easily passing the preliminaries and the knockout phase, and in the final she beat the Russian Saadat Abdullaeva in a difficult 2-1 match to take home the gold.

With the world title in hand, Bylon began her winning streak in Olympic cycle competitions, earning her a ticket to the 2016 Rio Games.

In this Olympic event she finished in ninth place, four years later, in Tokyo 2020, where she was the flag bearer of the Panamanian delegation, she got into fifth place to win an Olympic diploma.

Watch the moment Bylon lifts the silver medal here:

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