Alexis Vastine (17 November 1986 – 9 March 2015) was a French boxer who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the Light Welterweight division. He also competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics, where he was eliminated in the quarterfinals in a controversial decision. He died in the Villa Castelli helicopter collision during the filming of French TV reality show Dropped for the TF1 network.[1]
 Alexis Vastine in 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 17 November 1986 Pont-Audemer, France | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 9 March 2015 (aged 28) Villa Castelli, La Rioja, Argentina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Career
editAt the 2004 junior world championships, Vastine was knocked out by Amir Khan at lightweight and won bronze.
At the 2007 senior world championships in Chicago, he was outpointed by Bradley Saunders at junior welter but qualified for the Olympics.
At the 2008 Olympics, Vastine reached the semifinal where he faced Manuel Félix Díaz from the Dominican Republic. With Vastine leading by two in the final round, the Dominican fighter made a comeback and won the fight. Vastine lost the match by two points after being penalised twice by the referee, having four points deducted from his score. France 24 reported:
Vastine was robbed of his place in the final as he went down 12–10 due to a pair of two-point penalties. Vastine, who stood a full seven inches over his opponent, was largely in control throughout but was harshly penalised for pushing his opponent down, not just once but twice. Diaz was also fortunate to score on a number of wild haymakers that didn't look to have connected cleanly.[2]
The Agence France-Presse described the referee's ruling as "controversial".[3][4] Diaz, however, went on to win the gold medal.[5]
Vastine went on to suffer what was widely seen as an unjust decision[6] at the 2012 Olympics in London, where he drew on points but lost on countback to top-seeded welterweight Taras Shelestyuk of Ukraine in the quarter-finals, thus missing out on a medal.
Olympic games results
edit2008 (as a Light welterweight)
- Defeated Egidijus Kavaliauskas (Lithuania) 13–2
- Defeated Bradley Saunders (Great Britain) 11–7
- Defeated Uranchimegiin Mönkh-Erdene (Mongolia) 12–4
- Lost to Manuel Félix Díaz (Dominican Republic) 10–12
2012 (as a Welterweight)
- Defeated Patrick Wojcicki (Germany) 16-12
- Defeated Byambyn Tüvshinbat (Mongolia) 13-12
- Lost to Taras Shelestyuk (Ukraine) 18+-18
World amateur championships results
edit2007 (as a Light welterweight)
- Defeated Dilshod Mahmudov (Uzbekistan) 28–27
- Defeated Edward Akora (Uganda) RSCO 3
- Defeated Vasili Belous (Moldava) 27–10
- Lost to Bradley Saunders (England) 13–30
Death
editOn 9 March 2015, as part of a group of French sports stars participating in a reality TV show called Dropped, Vastine was one of 10 people who died when two helicopters collided mid-air during filming in northwestern Argentina.[7][8] His 20-year-old sister Céline, also an amateur boxer, had been killed in a car accident in France just two months before.[9]
References
edit- ^ "French Olympians filming reality TV survival show killed in helicopter crash in Argentina". Telegraph.co.uk. 10 March 2015.
- ^ "Only bronze medal for French Alexis Vastine" Archived 2008-08-28 at the Wayback Machine, France 24, 22 August 2008
- ^ "Judging scandal rocks Olympic boxing competition" Archived 29 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine, AFP, 23 August 2008
- ^ "French cry foul over Vastine controversy" Archived 27 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine, AFP, 22 August 2008
- ^ "Felic Diaz wins first Olympic boxing gold for Dominican Republic" Archived 16 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine, AFP, 24 August 2008
- ^ French boxer Vastine rages after defeat BBC News 8 August 2012
- ^ Camille Muffat, Olympic gold medallist, among 10 dead in helicopter crash
- ^ Telegraph. 10 March 2015
- ^ Purepeople (5 January 2015). "Alexis Vastine : Mort de sa soeur Célie, 21 ans, le sort s'acharne sur le boxeur". www.purepeople.com. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
External links
edit- 2004 results
- Alexis Vastine at Olympedia
- Alexis Vastine at Olympics.com
- Alexis Vastine at Olympic.org (archived)
- Alexis Vastine at Équipe de France (in French)
- Alexis Vastine at Équipe de France Olympique (archived) (in French)