FLINT -- It's not the way Claressa Shields wanted to make it to the Olympics, but at least she's still got a ticket to the first-ever women's Olympic boxing competition this summer in London.
Shields returned home to Flint's Bishop airport just before 10 PM Sunday night. It was a long journey from China for the 17-year-old, who was favored to win at the World Boxing Championships, but unexpectedly England's Savannah Marshall knocked Shields out in the second round.
The Flint Northwestern student still got a spot on the US Olympic team though because she was a top-two finisher from the Americas.
Now, Shields will box for gold in the 165-pound middleweight class in London this summer. She said she will change up her training just a bit following her first loss, and work on being more patient.
"I would have been more happy about it if I came back undefeated, but I'm just glad that I'm going," Shields said Sunday. "My eyes are now open to what's out there... and those girls aren't dogs, they're cats...they hit you and run."
