Why do women wear headguards but not men in Olympic boxing?

OLYMPIC boxing at Paris 2024 is set to be one of the highlights of the games this summer.

Team GB will be hoping to pick up as many as the six medals they won in Tokyo three years ago.

AP

Women’s bouts at the Olympic Games see the competitors wearing a helmet[/caption]

You may notice a number of differences between the men and women’s competition, including the headgear worn by the female boxers.

Why do women wear headguards but not men in Olympic boxing?

The guidelines on boxing headguards comes from the International Olympic Committee and the International Boxing Association (AIBA).

Before the Rio 2016 Olympics, all boxers – both men and women – were required to wear them.

The AIBA first introduced head protection in 1984 following the tragic death of pro South Korean fighter Kim Duk-Koo.

Competitors at the Games are amateurs and up until 2016, headgear was mandatory for their protection.

AP

Since Rio 2016, male amateur fighters at the Olympics have not been required to wear headgear[/caption]

But a study by the Global Sport Institute concluded that boxers who competed without headgear were less likely to concussions than those who wore them.

As the study was conducted solely on men, the headgear was dropped for them at the 2016 Games in Rio.

But with no conclusive data yet through for women, head protection has therefore been retained for the women’s boxing in Tokyo to ensure maximum safety.