With eight days remaining until the start of the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games boxing competition, Boxing Canada would like to introduce you to Canadian Pan American Games Boxing Team athlete Marie Al-Ahmadieh. Marie is representing Canada in the female 57kg weight division. Marie calls Montreal, Quebec, home and currently trains full-time at Boxing Canada’s National Training Centre at the Institut National du Sport du Quebec (INS).  Prior to training at the INS, Marie boxed out of Pound 4 Pound gym, also in Montreal. 

Marie’s current favorite professional boxer is Shakur Stevenson because “he is extremely smart in the ring; he always seems very calm and level-headed. I think he’s one of the boxers with the most variety of “tools” in his toolbox. A very well-rounded boxer” Marie’s all-time favorite boxer is Claressa Shields. Marie goes on to say, “I find her very inspiring, being one of the youngest Olympians of all time and being able to achieve such great things at such a young age.”

Marie believes her greatest strength as a boxer is her speed. “In most of my matchups, I’ve been able to find comfort in the fact that I am the faster boxer,” says Marie. “My speed gives me many advantages over my opponents, like timing, defense, and more punches landed in a combination.

Marie’s proudest boxing achievement is “securing my spot on the Canadian Pan American team by winning my quarterfinals fight at the Pan Am qualifiers and eventually making it all the way to the finals and winning an elite continental silver medal at 18.”  

Marie stays motivated to continue boxing by “telling myself that this is only the beginning; that everything I’ve accomplished so far is only a “warmup” for what I will be able to achieve if I keep working hard.”

“Being away from home for long amounts of time” is one of Marie’s biggest challenges as a high-performance athlete. She explains, “I love traveling the world while boxing, but it can get difficult to go weeks without seeing my friends and family and missing out on so many occasions back home.” 

As Marie enters the 2023 Pan American Games and Paris 2024 Olympic Qualifier, she would like to be remembered for her time on Canada’s National Team as “one of the youngest Canadian boxing Olympians.” Follow Marie and the rest of Boxing Canada’s 2023 Pan American Games Boxing Team athletes’ results 

 

Posted on: October 11, 2023