Paris – Wyatt Sanford has a medal in his pocket, a different one in his mind’s eye, and the good sense to know that whatever colour he winds up winning, he wouldn’t have had a puncher’s chance without the backbone provided by family and community.
Today, it’s bronze, but with a twist of Olympic alchemy, it could be gold or silver, should the 25-year-old boxer from Kennetcook, a community in Hants County, N.S., win a semi-final bout against Sofiane Oumiha of France on Sunday and advance to the final.
Regardless, Sanford cannot be punched off the podium — the sport awards two bronze medals in each weight class — and the calming effect of that knowledge was sinking in Thursday on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. He has already won the country’s first Olympic boxing medal since 1996, when the late David (The Dream) Defiagbon earned heavyweight silver.
“That’s a great feeling going forward, that no matter what the bout ahead of us brings, we’re going to go home with a medal, but we definitely like the colour of silver or gold more than bronze,” he said.
When Thursday’s 63.5kg quarter-final bout with Uzbekistan’s Ruslan Abdullaev ended and the referee raised Sanford’s arm, a crowd of about 300 supporters at a watch party in Findley Park went into a full-throated celebration. They got up at 6:30 a.m. to watch his first bout, too. Back in February, the community organized a Kennetcook Kid fundraising auction and dinner — seafood or fish chowder, a bun and dessert for $10 — at the Hants North Legion #166 on Feb. 17.
“For an athlete to have success there needs to be a village to support them and this community has done that,” said his mother Angela. “I remember wondering how we would ever provide this opportunity financially for him, but the community supported auctions, clothing sales and so much more to contribute to his end goal.”
Sanford calls it “small town love and commitment,” and it extends well beyond his exploits.
“They’re behind soccer, they love their baseball,” he said. “They’re behind any athlete willing to work hard and dedicate themselves to accomplishing anything they want. I just want to give back, showing the younger ones, yes we do come from a small town with a low population, but once you have your eyes set on something it’s just a matter of hard work and consistent determination and you’re able to achieve anything you want.”
He started to box 15 years ago, egged on by a childhood friend and joined by his older brother. At age 18 he moved from that tiny supportive hometown to live in Montreal and chase a dream and a career, leaving friends and family behind. His mother wasn’t worried, she said, because he “always had a pretty level head and we kept close contact.”
And he still doesn’t see the move as a sacrifice.
“I look at it as an opportunity to better myself,” he said. “If you look at it as sacrifices you always have a small regret on leaving something behind, but when you look at it as trying to be the best person you can be and giving yourself the best life you can, it’s not a sacrifice, it’s a choice you make to come out on top, whether it’s in sports, school, anything.”
He is, quite obviously, a relentlessly positive person, and he views everything through that lens, including his upcoming bout against the home country hero. There will be bedlam inside North Paris Arena, but no worries. He will have his own cheering section, with his mother and father, Dan, and wife, Pamela Ware — two-time Olympic diver — on site.
“I’m sure the stadium is going to be cheering for him as loud as it can be. That’s fine. It’s just another arena, another guy.”
Sanford is not the first Canadian to win an Olympic boxing medal in Paris. At the 1924 Games, 20-year-old Douglas Lewis of Toronto strode a unique path to his bronze. In an early bout, his opponent Giuseppe Oldani was disqualified for persistent holding, prompting the Italian’s supporters to fling an angry shower of coins and walking stick knobs in the direction of the referee. And there wasn’t actually a bronze medal bout at all, since Lewis’s Irish opponent Patrick (Rocky) Dwyer had been so cut up in a previous fight that he couldn’t step back into the ring. The Canadian won bronze by walkover and Dwyer had a tale of woe for the lads looking to buy him one down the pub.
Sanford tells a good yarn himself, and he recounted his early days as a fighter.
“I was awful,” he said. “I was a right-handed fighter when I first started out and I lost my first four fights. What happened was my brother was going to nationals and he had a southpaw in his division, so the coach asked me if I would get some work in with him and switch stance so he could get some work in with a lefty. After the sparring with my brother I said this actually works, so we stuck with it and now we’re here.”
He went on a tear afterwards, stringing together something like 25 straight wins as a lefty. And now he needs just two more to cash in for gold. It’s an important moment for him and for Boxing Canada, given that 28-year drought.
“It’s great for boxing and bringing a medal back is showing the improvements that Boxing Canada has made over the years, just trying to get the optimal outcome out of the athletes,” he said.