Women's Day: Celebrating women achievers in sports

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

Women remain the fastest growing force in Ugandan sport, making this week pretty special for the industry. Ahead of Sunday's Women's Day commemoration, New Vision is paying tribute to some of Uganda's best female performers over the last year, opening with three boxers:

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Hellen Baleke (boxer)

She became Uganda's fi rst female boxing medalist ever after winning bronze at the 2019 African Games held in Morocco. The Lukanga Boxing Club boxer was part of Uganda's team that participated in the world boxing championship in South Korea in 2014 where she failed to win a single bout. But she has turned things around.

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Catherine Nanziri (boxer)

On her debut on the national boxing team, Catherine Nanziri won a bronze medal from the Africa olympic boxing qualifi ers that climaxed last week in Dakar, Senegal. The fl yweight division pugilist for A&B Boxing club and is currently seen as the most talented female boxer on the national team according to Lawrence Kalyango, one of the Bomber's coaches. 

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Emily Nakalema (boxer)

Nicknamed Ugandan boxing's ‘Semenya', Emily Nakalema is preceded by a fearsome aura. Like Nanziri, Nakalema won a bronze for Uganda at the just concluded Africa Olympic boxing qualifiers in Senegal after reaching the semi- fi nals in the welter weight division, where she was stopped by Mozambique's Acinda Panguana.