Luca Hámori: It was the best Olympic result of my life, but everyone remembers Helif

Boxer Luca Hámori, who placed fifth at the Olympics in Paris, was one of the guests at the Sport and Innovation Conference organized at the University of Physical Education, where did he also talk about his participation in the Olympics.

Hámori said they looked after the draw: if he wins two matches, he can meet one of his favourites, Algerian Imane Helif. Helife was not yet known to the world, it wasn’t until a few days later that the news broke about himwhen the Italian Carini quickly gave up the fight against him. Carini said he had never been beaten as hard as the one Helif gave him.

After Hámori defeated her Irish opponent, Grainne Walsh, and Marissa Williams from Australia, Helif was waiting for her in the quarter-finals. The match generated unprecedented interest in the media, TV crews did not attack a Hungarian competitor as it was.

“I had one day to rest after the match against Australia and on that same day I had to prepare for Helif. I tried to handle the situation, given the unprecedented interest and increased media interest this match had caused. In the eyes of some, I am the hero, in the eyes of others, I was the bad face, and I just wanted to box. A lot of people wanted to see me fail, and of course they wanted me to win. It crossed my mind that I couldn’t stand it, but then I quickly reminded myself why I went to Paris. And fun is not about giving anyway. If someone thinks it’s okay for my opponent to start, I’ll stand in front of him. I was treated by a psychiatrist, but it is not easy to prepare for this situation. And then I didn’t even know what was waiting for me in the hall.”

According to Hámori, the feeling was paralyzed, which surprised him, he thought that more people would support him after the previous events, but he saw Algerian flags almost everywhere, except some Hungarian. They mocked him, then he went into a “just because” mood, and the words of his trainer from the corner really got to him, even if there were five thousand people around the ring.

“It’s sad that they don’t remember me because I was the first Hungarian woman to box at the Olympics, but because of this game. If you stopped ten people in the street, nine people would definitely say that I was the one who boxed against the Algerian girl, and not that I came fifth, that I got the best result of my life there the Olympics. This is the hardest thing to accept. Nevertheless, the positive things remain in me, if I had a match against him again, I would definitely stand there in a different way, because it would be better for me shut out the outside world. And I’d rather feel that this is just a match than anything else. Although the opponent is not average, this only makes me work even harder.”

He did not understand why the Italian opponent Helif surrendered so quickly, what was his goal, what was the goal of his coach, because he did not feel at all that he would beat him such hard players, Hámori said that he regularly prepares with men for the big competitions, before the Olympics, she was very involved with men, as did almost everyone from the field of women.

Piroska Béki, who was a judge at the Olympics, was also a guest at the conference. Béki told me that many of his colleagues were afraid that they would find a match between Hámori and Helif. The judge, who used to be a boxer, also touched that Helif and Lin Jü-ting from Taiwan won their weight group. but according to him, not only could two people be intersex in the field, but only they were picked up by the media. And even more people try in the qualification, which at first glance are unusual competitors.

“Testosterone level is a good screening method, but while the ability to start is much stricter in athletics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was more lenient in boxing. If the accepted value of testosterone in boxing was only five, and not ten, the conditions would be more equal, because the essence of the sport is equality of opportunity after all,” explained Béki , who also teaches full time at ELTE.

The IOC abolished chromosome testing before the 2000 Olympics because many women who were born later but had a Y chromosome were also excluded from the competition.

Helif won his next two matches after the quarterfinals. After her success, she was celebrated as a hero in her own country, Algeria had two gold medals at the Olympics, Kaylia Nemour, a gymnast living in France, won the other one.

The one in Paris was the second Olympics where boxing was not organized by the International Federation (IBA), but by the IOC. Helife was disqualified by the IBA before last year’s World Championship final because of his male chromosome. Helif sued, but in the end his case did not reach the International Court of Arbitration for Sport.

At this time, the sport’s place in the Olympic program is not certain, but since Los Angeles will be the host in 2028, if the Americans could choose a sport, they would probably choose boxing.

Hámori plans to be in Los Angeles. He decided this when he arrived and was surrounded by the Olympic atmosphere in Paris. He made a film about Hámori and his preparations before the Olympics video by Telex, which you can see here.