{"id":20025,"date":"2025-07-30T12:32:24","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T16:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/boxingcanada.org\/?p=20025"},"modified":"2025-07-30T12:39:56","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T16:39:56","slug":"edmonton-boxer-strikes-gold-at-the-2025-world-police-and-fire-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/boxingcanada.org\/fr\/announcements\/edmonton-boxer-strikes-gold-at-the-2025-world-police-and-fire-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Edmonton Boxer Strikes Gold at the 2025 World Police and Fire Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

What was supposed to be a routine competition turned into a gold medal performance and a life-affirming moment for Edmonton boxer and first responder Jordan Chiarello.<\/p>\n

Chiarello, representing Canada at the 2025 World Police and Fire Games (WPFG) in Birmingham, Alabama, stunned audiences by taking home gold in the Novice 92kg division. But it wasn\u2019t just the medal that made headlines; it was the courage and heart behind it.<\/p>\n

The WPFG is a global gathering of emergency service athletes, firefighters, police officers, and correctional officers from countries as far as India and Brazil. Boxing is one of the event\u2019s most competitive showcases, and Chiarello, initially registered in the 80kg category, faced an unexpected twist. On competition day, he learned there were no opponents in his division. Instead of accepting an uncontested gold, he boldly stepped up to the 92kg division, two full weight classes higher.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe size difference was almost comical,\u201d he said. \u201cBut nothing in life comes easy.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With the backing of his corner, James Bruce, and coaches Stan Surmacz and Alex Laight of Avenue Boxing Club<\/a> in Edmonton, Chiarello took on the challenge head-on. He credited the Avenue team with helping him build the physical base and mental resilience to handle the moment despite it being his first official bout.<\/p>\n

Just two days before the fight, Chiarello\u2019s grandmother, Leondina Chiarello, passed away. Though devastated, he decided to fight in her honour.<\/p>\n

\u201cJames told me something that stuck: we can let things weigh us down, or we can let them fuel us.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That same day, he returned to training, channelling grief into purpose. The night of the bout, he said he felt her presence in the ring.<\/p>\n

\u201cNana fought her battles, too. She had a 20-year fight with cancer. I just followed her example.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Chiarello\u2019s victory was not just a personal triumph. It\u2019s a story of resilience and belief in family, teammates, and quiet strength. He credits his partner Laura Vey, sparring partner Braydon Horcoff, and the full Avenue Boxing Club team for helping him prepare.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, he hopes to compete in his natural weight class and pursue events like the Bronze Gloves.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI hope this gold medal shows others what\u2019s possible and encourages more people to step up, fight, and represent.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Un boxeur d\u2019Edmonton d\u00e9croche l\u2019or aux Jeux mondiaux des policiers et pompiers 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ce qui devait \u00eatre une comp\u00e9tition de routine s\u2019est transform\u00e9 en une performance m\u00e9daill\u00e9e d\u2019or et un moment marquant dans la vie du boxeur et premier r\u00e9pondant d\u2019Edmonton, Jordan Chiarello.<\/p>\n

Chiarello, repr\u00e9sentant le Canada aux Jeux mondiaux des policiers et pompiers (WPFG) 2025 \u00e0 Birmingham, en Alabama, a \u00e9tonn\u00e9 le public en remportant la m\u00e9daille d\u2019or dans la cat\u00e9gorie novice des 92 kg. Mais ce n\u2019est pas seulement la m\u00e9daille qui a retenu l\u2019attention, c\u2019est le courage et le c\u0153ur derri\u00e8re sa victoire.<\/p>\n

Les WPFG sont un rassemblement mondial d\u2019athl\u00e8tes des services d\u2019urgence, pompiers, policiers et agents correctionnels, provenant de pays aussi \u00e9loign\u00e9s que l\u2019Inde et le Br\u00e9sil. La boxe est l\u2019une des disciplines les plus disput\u00e9es de l\u2019\u00e9v\u00e9nement, et Chiarello, initialement inscrit dans la cat\u00e9gorie des 80 kg, a v\u00e9cu un rebondissement inattendu. Le jour m\u00eame de la comp\u00e9tition, il a appris qu\u2019il n\u2019y avait aucun adversaire dans sa division. Plut\u00f4t que d\u2019accepter une m\u00e9daille d\u2019or sans opposition, il a d\u00e9cid\u00e9 de monter dans la cat\u00e9gorie des 92 kg, soit deux divisions de poids sup\u00e9rieures.<\/p>\n

\u00ab La diff\u00e9rence de taille \u00e9tait presque comique \u00bb, a-t-il dit. \u00ab Mais rien n\u2019est facile dans la vie. \u00bb<\/p>\n

Avec le soutien de son entra\u00eeneur de coin, James Bruce, et des coachs Stan Surmacz et Alex Laight du Avenue Boxing Club<\/a> \u00e0 Edmonton, Chiarello a relev\u00e9 le d\u00e9fi sans h\u00e9siter. Il attribue \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9quipe de l\u2019 Avenue Boxing Club le m\u00e9rite de l\u2019avoir aid\u00e9 \u00e0 construire une base physique solide et une r\u00e9silience mentale lui permettant d\u2019affronter ce moment, malgr\u00e9 le fait qu\u2019il s\u2019agissait de son premier combat officiel.<\/p>\n

Deux jours avant le combat, la grand-m\u00e8re de Chiarello, Leondina Chiarello, est d\u00e9c\u00e9d\u00e9e. Bien qu\u2019abattu, il a choisi de se battre en son honneur.<\/p>\n

\u00ab James m\u2019a dit quelque chose qui m\u2019est rest\u00e9 : on peut laisser les choses nous \u00e9craser, ou on peut les laisser nous motiver. \u00bb<\/p>\n

Ce m\u00eame jour, il est retourn\u00e9 \u00e0 l\u2019entra\u00eenement, transformant son chagrin en force. Le soir du combat, il a affirm\u00e9 avoir ressenti sa pr\u00e9sence dans le ring.<\/p>\n

\u00ab Nana a elle aussi men\u00e9 ses propres combats. Elle s\u2019est battue contre le cancer pendant 20 ans. J\u2019ai simplement suivi son exemple. \u00bb<\/p>\n

La victoire de Chiarello n\u2019\u00e9tait pas qu\u2019un triomphe personnel. C\u2019est une histoire de r\u00e9silience et de conviction, de famille, d\u2019\u00e9quipe et de force tranquille. Il remercie sa conjointe Laura Vey, son partenaire d\u2019entra\u00eenement Braydon Horcoff, et toute l\u2019\u00e9quipe de l\u2019Avenue Boxing Club pour leur r\u00f4le dans sa pr\u00e9paration.<\/p>\n

En regardant vers l\u2019avenir, il esp\u00e8re concourir dans sa cat\u00e9gorie de poids naturelle et participer \u00e0 des comp\u00e9titions comme les Gants de bronze.<\/p>\n

\u00ab J\u2019esp\u00e8re que cette m\u00e9daille d\u2019or montrera aux autres ce qui est possible et donnera \u00e0 plus de gens le courage de se lancer, de se battre et de repr\u00e9senter. \u00bb<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What was supposed to be a routine competition turned into a gold medal performance and a life-affirming moment for Edmonton boxer and first responder Jordan Chiarello. Chiarello, representing Canada at the 2025 World Police and Fire Games (WPFG) in Birmingham, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20023,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":12,"footnotes":""},"categories":[716,1455],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-announcements","category-athlete-fr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/boxingcanada.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/boxingcanada.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/boxingcanada.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boxingcanada.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boxingcanada.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/boxingcanada.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boxingcanada.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/boxingcanada.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boxingcanada.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boxingcanada.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}