Cape Verde boxer David De Pina clinched nation's first Olympic medal

Cape Verde boxer David De Pina clinched his island nation's first Olympic medal with a quarterfinal victory Friday in the boxing tournament at the Paris Games.

Cape Verde, a nation of about 600,000 people on 10 isles more than 300 miles west of continental Africa, had never taken home a medal in its previous seven appearances in the Olympics.

But De Pina has won twice in the men's 51-kilogram division in Paris to secure at least a bronze medal — and a monumental achievement for sports in his country.

“I did it for my country because we deserve it,” De Pina said. “We are a small country, a small island, and we never did this before. I'm the first one to write this story, ever! I felt the support my country gave to me, and we deserve it because we've been through rough moments to get here.”

De Pina beat Zambia's Patrick Chinyemba on Friday night in an extraordinary showdown between boxers from African nations. Chinyemba, the African champion and a Commonwealth Games bronze medalist, fell just short of winning only the third Olympic medal in his much larger nation's history.

But Chinyemba simply couldn't solve De Pina, who has been a thrilling presence in the Paris ring. He combines his athleticism with a versatile, intelligent style of fighting that has flummoxed his opponents.

And De Pina is quick to point out that he also looks great doing it: His long hair is gathered into two balls on the sides of his head — “like Mickey Mouse!” he said with a laugh.

Several members of his Cape Verde team and fan base wore their hair in the same style while watching him beat Chinyemba. They celebrated afterward together, with the team and fans picking up De Pina and throwing him in the air repeatedly.

De Pina said his coach suggested the hairstyle to differentiate himself from other African fighters who typically wear their hair in braids. De Pina wants to stand out — and that's exactly what he has done with his skills.

After the decision, De Pina went to the center of the Olympic boxing ring and repeatedly leaped skyward, seemingly capable of touching the roof of the North Paris Arena amid the joy of his life-altering achievement.

De Pina also fought at the Tokyo Olympics, but he said he nearly gave up boxing in the years before the Paris Olympic cycle. He left home to train in Portugal but struggled to provide for his young family without being able to keep a steady job in construction.

De Pina persevered, and he sealed another Olympic berth with an impressive run of four consecutive victories at the qualifying tournament in Bangkok earlier this year. He credits his new training under well-known coach Bruno de Carvalho for his success.

“He is the engineer of all my fights,” De Pina said. “He didn't sleep. Every night, he was studying the game. I just do what he tells me to do. Africans are strong, but we beat them with our strength of mind.”

De Pina was one of his nation's two flagbearers at the opening ceremonies in Paris, and he is thoroughly enjoying his successful run. That run gets much more difficult in his next bout on Sunday, when he must fight Rio gold medalist Hasanboy Dusmatov of Uzbekistan in the semifinals.

No matter what happens, De Pina has made history.

“I showed the world that we are small, but we are strong and we are talented,” De Pina said.