China’s final hope of a 39th gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games ended with Li Qian’s women’s middleweight boxing bout loss to Great Britain’s Lauren Price. Price looked the brighter from the off and it was no surprise when her arm was raised as the winner by unanimous decision at the end of the three rounds. Li’s loss means that China can no longer beat the US outright in the gold medal table, with the Americans now on 39 to finish above China’s 38 – as had been predicted before the Games began. The 31-year-old Henan native Li was led a merry dance by the Welsh amateur, who adds Olympic gold to her Commonwealth Games gold won in Australia in 2018 and a bronze won four years before. Price’s superior footwork and speed showed, with Li lumbering to get near enough to land a shot. Li’s low-handed style proved effective on the way to the final after she beat the Russian Olympic Committee’s Zenfira Magomedalieva in dominant fashion. Still, in making the final at the Kokugikan Arena, Li had already gone one better than her bronze at the Rio Games five years ago. As for Price, she had said before the Games that she has no plans of going professional until after defending her title at the Paris 2024 Games. She goes there as defending champion.