Julia Sheremeta won the silver medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Poland In the final, the boxer fought bravely against the favored Lin Yu-Ting. But she clearly lost.
After the fight, a tearful Szeremeta came to talk to the Polish media. We present the transcript of the conversation conducted with Szeremeta by a group of journalists.
You stand before us in tears, you have a black eye – how much health did the final fight cost you?
– It was very hard. The blows weren't that bad, I got a little bit hurt there… And I'm crying because I dreamed of gold. Unfortunately, it didn't work out.
You have silver, which Polish boxing has not had at the Olympics for 44 years. And we have been waiting 32 years for any medal in this sport.
– I'm happy that I have a medal. But I wanted more. I promise that in four years I will return to the Olympic Games and then I will bring back gold.
Did you feel that you were capable of doing anything in the final but it just didn't work out or did the Taiwanese woman simply not give you any chance due to her enormous reach?
– It was very difficult for me because of her reach. She is very tall, has this great reach and also has a very uncomfortable left jab. In the first round I wanted to get a feel for it and do something about it later, but my opponent is a very good counter-boxer and when I wanted to attack, she would get out of my line of attack, letting me through.
Julia, now you're crying because you're very ambitious and you're sorry you don't have gold, but in the ring right after the fight you must have felt joy? You reacted beautifully – first you congratulated the Taiwanese and even hugged her, and after a while you probably even danced for the fans for a while?
– Yes, there was joy. But now the emotions have gone and there is sadness.
You made yourself known at these games throughout Poland. How do you feel about suddenly becoming known?
– It's a really cool experience. I'm glad I could show myself from such a good side, have fun with the audience. I showed Poland and not only Poland my boxing style. I hope that we will rebuild boxing in Poland, that it will rise to the heights.
You said you'll go back to the Olympics and win them, but what about you turning pro? Will you try to combine professional fighting with being at the Olympics?
– I'm not thinking about it at the moment. I want to rest. And then, with coach Tomek Dylak, we'll work out a further plan of action. But we'll definitely see each other again at the Olympics in four years!
There's been a lot of discussion around your final opponent, and a lot of controversy surrounding her gender – how did that affect you?
– It didn't affect me at all, I took it easy, I really ignored him.
But you liked and shared a few memes about it on your social media. And then it disappeared from your profiles.
– Well, that's how it turned out.
Was it your decision to remove this content or did someone suggest it to you?
– I didn't really deal with my social media to calm down. I didn't go there, someone was running it for me. The coach saw those memes and told me to delete them.
What do you think about Taiwanese? What is your position on this matter?
– I don't want to comment on this topic.