Being the first to accomplish something, but to also make history is a very important occurrence. Did you know that a fellow Michigander named Claressa Shields made history not only once, but twice?!
In the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, Claressa Shields made history by being not only the first American woman to win gold in a male dominated sport, boxing, but also to win back to back.
She was born on March 17th, 1995, and grew up in Flint, Michigan. Most people who’ve heard of Flint know about the water crisis and its poverty. However, it’s also known for employing many of its community at General Motors.
Around the age of 11, Claressa, started her boxing career and was coached by Jason Crutchfield. Her father, Bo Shields,, was also into boxing, which is what influenced her to start. She had a tough childhood but was raised and loved dearly by her grandmother. Just like many others, she used the sport as an outlet and a way to escape from her troubles in life while growing up.
After watching a recent interview, some challenges she dealt with were inequality, unfair pay, and a lack of recognition. At one point of the interview, Claressa shares how after winning her first gold medal she got nothing in return. According to Salita Promotions on YouTube Claressa said during an interview, “I was told after I won the first gold medal, that I would get endorsements, the sponsorships, the magazine covers, the money, the respect,” said Claressa. Even though she made a big accomplishment, there was barely any recognition. But that didn’t stop her, she pushed herself even harder for her second gold medal. Which paid off because she finally started to get attention.
Just before the new year started, on December 25th, the movie The Fire Inside was released. Where Claressa is played by Ryan Destiny, and her coach, Jason Crutchfield, is played by Brian Tyree. The movie captures Claressa’s life from the “inside” point of view, of Claressa becoming who she is now in the boxing industry. It shows the challenges she faced, the pressure from others, the obstacles she had to overcome, and the strength she had used to keep going. This movie may not only be inspiring to other athletes, but also to young women, no matter what race or age. Women who can relate to the same situations growing up, but have a passion and strong desire just like Claressa did.
Over the past ten-plus years, Claressa has accomplished so much at only 29 years old. The ‘T-Rex’ is just getting started and will be making way more history in boxing. Her next fight takes place on February 2nd and will be against Dainelle Perkins. So make sure you don’t miss it!
