Tony Jeffries' Olympic adventure begins
Aug 6 2008 By Stuart Rayner, The Journal
The greatest sporting show on earth kicks off on Friday (August 8) when Beijing hosts the 29th modern Olympic Games with a host of North East athletes hoping to return with medals. Sunderland boxer Tony Jeffries will be keeping JournalLive readers updated on his progress with regular updates from Beijing. In the first part of our exclusive series, he tells Stuart Rayner of his disappointment at missing one of the Games' highlights.
TONY Jeffries began his Olympic adventure earlier this week, but the Sunderland light-heavyweight may have to sit out a key part of the Beijing experience.
Boxing will be one of the first sports appearing at the China Games, and with Jeffries due to fight early in the competition he will have to watch the opening ceremony on TV in the Olympic Village.
"I’m going to miss the opening ceremony and I’m gutted about that," he said.
"At the Commonwealth Games it was the best experience of my life to walk around a stadium full of 90,000 people cheering for you, brilliant.
"So I was really looking forward to going to the Olympic ceremony but I’m going to miss it because I’m fighting the next day. It’s just one of those things. The way I look at it, I’m lucky enough to be going to the Olympics. I’ll have to sit there and watch it on the telly.
"I cannot wait to get out there. I’m really looking forward to it. I’m a bit anxious, there seems to be a bit of pressure because I could be the first British fighter to fight in the Olympics. My weight category, light heavyweight, and middleweight fight on the first day so me and James Degale fight on the first day. I don’t know which one is going to be first yet. That gives me a little bit more pressure.
"But once that fight’s out of the way I’ll be flying. The draw’s not until August 9 and I think that’s going to be the most nerve-wracking part of the Olympics because I could face the world champion in my first fight."
The 23-year-old qualified for Beijing by reaching the semi-finals of the World Championship in November and admits he has thought of little else since.
"To tell you the truth it’s been the fastest eight months of my life but it’s been good, it’s been a really exciting time, a brilliant time for me," he said.
"I haven’t been to an Olympic Games so God knows what it’s going to be like when I get there. But I wouldn’t say it’s been difficult keeping my feet on the ground. I’ve been good, I’ve been training hard and keeping totally focused on the Olympics.
"I qualified in November on the Wednesday. On the Thursday I was fighting a lad from Kazakhastan (Yerkebuian Shynaliyev) for a medal. But I was that hyped up on the Wednesday after I’d qualified I was lying in bed awake until about 5 o’clock in the morning. The weigh-in was 7 o’clock but I was wide awake. I just kept thinking about having qualified for the Olympics, I never thought about fighting for a World Championship medal and that lad won. I switched off. Two weeks after that I was like, ‘God, I really am going to the Olympic Games’.
Jeffries is part of an eight-man GB boxing team reckoned to be the best the country has ever sent to an Olympics. Having finished runner-up in his last tournament - June’s European Union Elite Boxing Championships in Poland - expectations are high that he can return to the North East with a medal.
"I try not to put extra pressure on myself because I feel like I’ve got a lot of pressure anyway," he said when asked what his aims were.
"But obviously when I get in there I want to get a gold medal. I’ve got to take it one fight - eight minutes - at a time but I want to give it every last ounce of energy. I’ve got to win five fights to get a gold medal, three to get a bronze medal."
