Why do women wear headguards but not men in Olympic boxing?
OLYMPIC boxing is reaching an exciting conclusion at Tokyo 2020.
Team GB still have some medal hopes going into the final few days of competition, with a number of stars already making the podium.
You may have noticed a number of differences between the men and women’s competition, including the headgear worn by the female boxers.
Why do women wear headguards but not men in Olympic boxing?
The guidelines on boxing headguards comes from the International Olympic Committee and the International Boxing Association (AIBA).
Up until the Rio 2016 Olympics, all boxers – both men and women – were required to wear them.
The AIBA first introduced head protection in 1984 following the tragic death of pro South Korean fighter Kim Duk-Koo.
Competitors at the Games are amateurs and up until 2016, headgear was there for their protection.
But a study by the Global Sport Institute before the Rio Games concluded that boxers who competed without headgear were less likely to experience acute brain injury than those who wore head protection.
As the study was conducted on men, the headgear was dropped for them in 2016.
But with no conclusive data yet through for women, their head protection has therefore been retained for the 2020 Games in Tokyo.
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