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British Boxer to Earn Prestigious Honor After Returning Home From the Tokyo Olympics

Published 08/06/2021, 11:00 AM EDT

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via Reuters

British boxer Ben Whittaker put on an impressive performance at the Tokyo Olympics. Although he came up short in the final, he brought home a silver medal to add to Great Britain’s impressive tally.

As the Olympics nears its end, most athletes are returning home after an eventful and unique tournament. And the Briton received a surprising piece of news from the mayor of Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom.

Wolverhampton city mayor announces Ben Whittaker as “unofficial mayor” after Tokyo Olympics success

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Whittaker made an impressive start to his tournament, defeating Colombia’s Jorge Luis Vivas 4-1 in the first round. After sweeping Iranian boxer Abdelrahman Oraby in the second round, he faced Keno Machado in the quarterfinals.

Despite his convincing performances, the 24-year-old faced a tough challenge from Machado. However, he won the bout via a split decision of 3-2. After winning the quarterfinal, Whittaker joked he would want to become the mayor of his hometown of Wolverhampton if he clinched gold in Tokyo.

via Reuters

Although the Briton came up short, Wolverhampton mayor Greg Brackenridge admitted Whittaker deserved a grand welcome back home. Hence, he revealed the 24-year-old will be his city’s mayor for a day after he returns.

He said“He’s going to get a hero’s welcome. Of course we are going to be doing that. I think he has earned a day with the mayoral chains”

History Created by Greece at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 after Hungary Victory

Brackenridge: Whittaker put our city on the map

While bestowing this honour, Brackenridge admitted the 24-year-old boxer placed a spotlight on the city in Wolverhampton. In addition, he also revealed many people called him after Whittaker made his comments on being the mayor.

He said, “There is disappointment of course because you always want to win, but I think he has done us all very, very proud. He’s really put us on the map – he’s managed to win a silver and we are really proud of him.”

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The 24-year-old shocked many across the world when he didn’t wear his medal in the victory ceremony after the event. However, the 24-year-old put out a tweet apologising for his actions.

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What will Whittaker do as the mayor of Wolverhampton? Well, only time will tell!

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Written by:

Sanket Nair

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Sanket Nair is an F1 Author at EssentiallySports. A Sports Management student, he is a huge fan of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo and hopes to see Red Bull break Mercedes' dominance and win the World Championship soon. Sanket has been hooked to the sport ever since he watched the battle for the 2010 World Championship go down to the wire at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
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