The climb to the Paris Summer Olympics reached a summit for Philippines boxer Hergie Bacyadan.
The first publicly out transgender man to compete in any Olympic Games climbed through the ropes at North Paris Arena, wearing the blue uniform and aiming to fight.
He was seeded in the deep end of the draw. China’s Li Quan is the 75kg class top seed. She won bronze in Rio and silver in Tokyo. She’s won a world championship in 2018, and is defending Asian Games champion in the weight class.
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The difference in experience showed throughout the three-round bout. Bacyadan sought to be aggressive in the first round, but ran into Li’s defense and a jab that set the terms of the engagement. She scored often while Bacyadan struggled to find any openings to counter and hit back.
That was the rhythm of the first two rounds of the fight. In the third round, Bacyadan tried to press the action and was able land some solid punches in the final minute, but Li’s skill and ring savvy carried the match.
The final tally was a 5-0 decision for the Chinese fighter, a clean sweep of all three rounds, and advancement to the quarterfinals and another step closer to winning a first Olympic gold. Bacyadan boxed valiantly, but on this day the better fighter advanced.
For Bacyadan, his first Olympics ends in a loss but also with a win for the future. The door to Olympic competition is now open for other transgender men.
“It’s sad to think of losing, but I’m still very thankful that I got to the Olympics,” he wrote on Instagram. “It’s a big deal to me.”
You can follow Hergie Bacyadan on Instagram.
