Mandy poised to make noise in run-up to Olympics By Jeff Hicks Team Bujold KITCHENER — The amateur boxing calendar is a blank, barren page. The Tokyo Olympics, already delayed a year by the global pandemic, wobbling on a standing eight count. A thick fog of anxiety and uncertainty has settled over Japan — for now. […]
Canadian boxing champ in corner of national play and anti-bullying programs for schools By Jeff Hicks Team Bujold KITCHENER —Mike McDonald needed a place to stay as his intense focus on his successful national charity carried him eastward. So the Saskatoon-raised founder and Chief Executive Officer of Recess Guardians briefly stopped at a quaint little […]
Mandy focused and training hard as pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games now just a year away By Jeff Hicks Team Bujold KITCHENER — The slow, lonely climb is gruelling. That’s why Mandy Bujold adores it so. In the early morning hours, as the city awakens to a new summer’s day, Waterloo Region’s community champ makes her running […]
By Jeff HicksTeam BujoldKITCHENER— The pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games — officially set to begin on July 23, 2021 —are suddenly more than a year in the distance. Mandy Bujold will wait. And work. And sweat. And pore over video between Skype sessions with coach Syd Vanderpool. She’ll slug it out on the heavy bag hanging in […]
Mandy ready to re-evaluate in the face of Olympic uncertainty By Jeff Hicks Team Bujold KITCHENER —A fresh snow had fallen on her pandemic-stricken world Monday morning. Mandy Bujold, Waterloo Region’s community champ, had much to think about. A bitter spring chill had settled over her hopes for an Olympic boxing medal in Japan in […]
By Jeff Hicks Team Bujold KITCHENER — Mandy Bujold, felt like she had just shrugged the Blarney Stone off her back. Four years ago, on St. Patrick’s Day, a clutch semifinal victory over Brazil’s Grazieli Jesus de Souza at the Americas qualifiers in Argentina earned her first trip to the Olympics. After a decade of […]
By Jeff Hicks Team Bujold KITCHENER — The Argentina trip is cancelled. But Mandy Bujold won’t fret over a sudden change in travel plans, not with the coronavirus pandemic threatening public health around the world.Waterloo Region’s community champion is choosing to look at today’s stunning suspension of The Road to Tokyo Americas qualifying tournament as […]
Meet Brigitte, Jane and Maria — three champs behind the champ By Jeff Hicks Team Bujold Mandy Bujold, her flyweight faith in her boxing career shaken, sat quietly in a church pew a year or so ago. Her mom Brigitte, seated beside her, scribbled numbers on a piece of paper and handed them to her […]
Sparring with Bujold not for the ‘feint’ of heart, says fellow Canadian Olympic hopeful Justin Parina By Jeff Hicks Team Bujold KITCHENER — The electronic punch counter should have burst into flames. Another spirited sparring round between Mandy Bujold and Justin Parina, two Canadian Olympic qualifier champs bent on boxing in Tokyo, ticked down to […]
Two fights, two punishing victories got Waterloo Region’s Community Champ rolling in the ring By Jeff Hicks Team Bujold KITCHENER — The knockout moment unspooled in slow-motion. Jab. Jab. Right hand. Darkness. A red-shirted opponent toppled before Mandy Bujold, just 90 seconds the Kitchener fighter’s second amateur fight, held in a steamy and storied Toronto […]
Spot in 2020 Olympics within reach in South America By Jeff Hicks Team Bujold KITCHENER — Brace yourself, Buenos Aires. The Full Mandy is coming full force for the Continental Olympic Qualifiers at the end of March. Mandy Bujold, Waterloo Region’s community champ, will be at her best with a fly weight spot on the […]
Mandy aims for Triumph in Tokyo to cap a great Canadian boxing career By Jeff Hicks Team Bujold KITCHENER — Passionate. Determined. Relentless. Three words that describe Mandy Marie Brigitte Bujold, Waterloo Region’s community champion in and out of the boxing ring. Eleven national titles. Twice gold at the Pan Am Games. Bronze at the […]
Mandy returns home this weekend with bronze medal By Jeff Hicks Team Bujold DEBRECEN, HUNGARY — The heavy workload was wonderful. The result was bronze. The outlook is golden. “Three good fights in four days,” said Mandy Bujold after a tight decision went to Jyoti of India in Thursday’s semifinal bout at the Bocskai Memorial […]
Champ rolls with tourney twists and timetables By Jeff Hicks Team Bujold DEBRECEN, HUNGARY — Sudden start? No sweat. Mystery foe? No fears. Lumpy ring? No stumbles. Mandy Bujold, Waterloo Region’s community champ, shrugged off all the unexpected uppercuts the Bocskai International Tournament could toss at her this week. “You have to be able to […]
By Jeff Hicks Team Bujold MONTREAL— Fast fists fly above fast feet. Still, a world-class fighter needs both in the battle zone between the ropes. But which canvas-top quickness — pace-pushing dukes or nimble toes — is more crucial for a an Olympics-bound boxer to boast? “Fast feet, for sure,” said Mandy Bujold, Waterloo Region’s […]
By Jeff Hicks Team Bujold MONTREAL — Mandy Bujold, sparring against an invisible foe in the concrete belly of the Big O, danced around a red-canvas ring in dark high-tech head gear and comfy white socks. “You feel like you’re in a different world,” said Bujold of her virtual-reality training session underneath Olympic Stadium this […]