Mira Marjut Johanna Potkonen (née ''Miettinen'', born 17 November 1980) is a Finnish lightweight

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

. She won a bronze medal in the 60 kg category at the

2016 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships The 2016 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships was held at Astana, Kazakhstan and took place between 19 and 27 May 2016. Medal summary Medal table Medalists References External linksOfficial Website 2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

, the latter being Finland's only medal at the games.

Career

2016 Summer Olympics

In the second round of competition, the quarterfinals, of lightweight boxing at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

in August 2016, Potkonen defeated the 2012 Olympic gold medalist in the event,

Katie Taylor Katie Taylor (born 2 July 1986) is an Irish professional boxer and former footballer. She is a two-weight world champion and the current undisputed lightweight champion, having held the WBA title since 2017; the IBF title since 2018; and the ...

and advanced to the next round of competition, the semifinals."Defending champion Katie Taylor crashes out of Olympic Games"
''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

''. 15 August 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2021. By the end of competition, Potkonen won the bronze medal in the event."Boxing: Women's lightweight (60kg) bronze medal A results"
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2021. It was the only medal for

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

at the 2016 Summer Olympics in any sport, and the first medal in boxing for the country at an

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

since the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

2020 Summer Olympics

Ahead of the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

, company

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released its medal count predictions for the year's Olympic Games including a prediction that Potkonen would win the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

in lightweight boxing.O'Riordan, Ian (28 January 2020)
"Ireland predicted to win best ever Olympic medal haul in Tokyo"
''

''. Retrieved 15 July 2021. At the

2020 European Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament The 2020 European Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament for boxing at the 2020 Summer Olympics began on 14 March 2020 at the Copper Box Arena in London. On 16 March, the tournament was suspended and postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It ...

, Potkonen lost to Caroline Dubois in the first round of competition and did not directly qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games.Lewis, Ron (9 June 2021)
"Nine things we learnt from the European Boxing Olympic qualifiers"
''

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

''. Retrieved 15 July 2021.McRae, Donald (23 June 2021)
"Team GB name 11-strong Olympic boxing squad packed with talent"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. Retrieved 15 July 2021. However she qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games based on ranking. In the Olympics, which took place in 2021 due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Potkonen beat

Maïva Hamadouche Maïva Hamadouche (born 4 November 1989) is a French professional boxer and police officer who held the IBF female super-featherweight title from 2016 to November 2021. At regional level, she held the French female lightweight title in 2014 and t ...

, Oh Yeon-ji and

Esra Yıldız Esra Yıldız (born 4 July 1997) is a Turkish amateur boxer who won a bronze medal in the lightweight division at the 2016 European Championships. She was named as a competitor for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Personal life Yıldız was born in N ...

to guarantee a bronze medal. In the semi finals Potkonen lost to

Beatriz Ferreira Beatriz Iasmin Soares Ferreira (; born 9 December 1992) is a Brazilian boxer. She won a medal at the 2019 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships. She represented Brazil at the 2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known ...

which meant Potkonen got a bronze medal.

Legacy

Potkonen's

Olympic bronze medal An Olympic medal is awarded to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal to be won: gold, silver, and bronze, awarded to first, second, and third place, respectively. The granting of awards is laid ou ...

at the

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

made her a flag-bearer symbol for more conventional summer sports in her home country of

, where sports such as

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

tend to be more popular activities.Kamath, Amit (14 November 2018)
"Women's World Boxing Championships: Olympic medalist Mira Potkonen emerges as flag-bearer of conventional sports in Finland"
''

Firstpost ''Firstpost'' is an Indian online news and media website. The site is a part of the Network 18 media conglomerate owned by Reliance Industries, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC-TV18. The ''Network 18'' group was originally owned by Raghav ...

''. Retrieved 14 July 2021. In 2020, Potkonen was highlighted by the

for the impact she has had as an inspiration for young female boxers from nations not as well-known for boxing, including teenager Mariah Bahe looking to fight representing the

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah; at roughly , the ...

at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 2024), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la XXXIIIe Olympiade, links=no) and also known as Paris 2024, is an upcoming international multi-sport event that is s ...

.Watta, Evelyn (4 December 2020)
"Mariah Bahe aiming to continue tradition of Olympic medallists from less-known boxing nations"
''

''. Retrieved 15 July 2021.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Potkonen, Mira 1980 births Boxers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Finnish women boxers Living people Olympic boxers for Finland People from Heinävesi Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic medalists in boxing Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 2015 European Games Boxers at the 2019 European Games European Games medalists in boxing European Games gold medalists for Finland AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships medalists Lightweight boxers Sportspeople from South Savo