Boxing

 

 

https://scoop.upworthy.com/australias-ballet-loving-olympic-boxer-reveals-his-painted-nails-under-his-boxing-gloves

Harry Garside is an Olympic boxing champion from Australia who won a bronze medal in the lightweight division this year in Tokyo. He is the first Australian to win a medal for boxing at the Olympics in 33 years. After his match, Harry took off his gloves to reveal his fingernails; each had been painted white with a sliver of colour that appeared to represent a rainbow.

Harry said, "There's a lot of people out there who feel like they have to be something because they're a male or female. I'm all about just being different. I just want to break stereotypes to be honest." Harry also said he had planned to wear a dress to the opening ceremony but in the end he didn't go through with that because he "didn't want to offend anyone." He said, "Some people might take it the wrong way so this is my way of showcasing something."

Harry also revealed he loves ballet and it helps him in the boxing ring. Harry said his inspiration was Vasiliy Lomachenko, a two time gold medallist boxer from Ukraine; "He's my favourite fighter and he actually did a lot of traditional dancing. So I tried it out and fell in love with it almost instantly. It's really hard. It's really really difficult. It's definitely helped me throughout my boxing with my footwork and technique. Coordination is obviously a big thing and I'm very stiff in the ring and I feel like it's loosened me up a little bit"

Harry's mother said, "His statement about his fingernails and wearing a dress was to shine a light on the fact that we should stop pigeonholing people and that we want to break down stereotypes."

Show the top picture first and ask: 

- what do you see in the picture? where are they, what sport do you think they do?

Then show the second picture and ask the same question before explaining the story.

- what kind of sport is boxing?

- what assumptions do you think people make about boxers? What is a stereotype, what stereotypes exist about boxing?

- "There's a lot of people out there who feel like they have to be something because they're a male or female." what does this mean?

- Mum says, "We should stop pigeonholing people" what does that mean? How does Mum feel about her son wearing a dress or painting his fingernails?

- Harry said he thought about wearing a dress to the opening ceremony but chose not to because some people might take it the wrong way and he didn't want to offend anyone. Think about this statement, did he make the right decision?

- Harry won the first boxing medal for his country in 33 years, do you think people in Australia would care if he wore a dress?

- why do you think ballet helps Harry in the ring? Why are people surprised that some boxers do ballet?

- What can we learn from Harry?

- what can we learn from Harry's Mum?

- Why is this about No Outsiders?

No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders.com