TORONTO - Mandy Bujold has hit another road block in Tokyo Olympic qualifying.
The boxer from Kitchener, Ont., won't get a chance to compete in the Tokyo Americas Olympic qualifier scheduled for next month in Buenos Aires after the event was cancelled on Friday because of COVID-19 concerns. The continental qualifiers were originally scrapped last March due to the global pandemic.
The 49 quota spots slated to be awarded at the event will now be allocated via IOC Boxing Task Force ranking.
Bujold, a two-time Pan American Games champion, has been hoping to be the first female to box for Canada at consecutive Olympics.
An illness derailed Bujold's dreams at the 2016 Rio Games. Hours before her quarterfinal loss to China's Ren Cancan, she was in hospital on an I.V.
Canada's 11-time flyweight champion and 18 of her teammates were forced into isolation after national team training in Montreal was cut short in February due to a positive COVID-19 test.
After news of the cancellation broke on Friday, Bujold tweeted ``To say I'm heartbroken would be an understatement.''
