They came, 557 boxers from more than a hundred countries.

They saw Chicago, the U.S. city that hopes to host the 2016 Olympics.

And some of them conquered. Eleven boxers won gold medals Saturday and 69 others won enough earlier bouts to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Pic: Gold medalist Clemente Russo (ITA) cries on the podium during the playing of his national anthem after his heavy 91kg championship bout

With all of that accomplished, the AIBA World Boxing Championships Chicago 2007 ended 11 days of competition Saturday at the University of Illinois-Chicago's UIC Pavilion.

It was a particularly satisfying experience for the Russian team. By winning eight medals, including three gold and three silver in the finals, the Russians established themselves as kingpins to beat in Beijing.

But it was also a positive tournament for others, particularly the Americans, Italians and Chinese.

Five U.S. team members reached the quarterfinals, thereby qualifying for the Beijing Games. And two, 112-pound flyweight Raushee Warren and 152-pound welterweight Demetrius Andrade won gold, becoming the first U.S. World Champions since 1999.

Among the biggest boxers, the Italians prevailed as gold medalists. In the 201-pound heavyweight finals, Clemente Russo edged Rakhim Chakhkeiv of Russia, 7-6. At 201-plus-pound super heavyweight, Roberto Cammarelle defeated Vyacheslav Glazkov of Ukraine.

The Chinese team came out of the quarterfinals in striking position, with five semifinalists. Although only one, 106-pound light flyweight Zou Shiming, made it to the finals, where he won a gold medal, Chinese featherweight bronze medalist Yang Li said, "Five Chinese boxers reached the semi-finals. This is a great breakthrough for China. We look forward to great things."

Agreeing, Zou said, "Boxing was a western sport originally. Now, a Chinese boxer has won two championships." He diplomatically did not add that that boxer was himself. He was also a gold medalist at the 2005 World Championships.

Italian Cammarelle, who won the final bout of the tournament, said, "It has been the dream of my life to win the gold medal with hard work." Asked if he would now expand his dream to envision an Olympic gold medal, he said, "Of course. I want to win. I want to always win."

Silver medalist Artur Beterbeiv said he was not surprised at his Russian team's success in the Chicago tournament: "Russia has always been the best, will always be the best, and will do everything possible to prove it at the Olympics again."

On Saturday, Zou carried his nation's flag when his victory over Harry Tanamor of the Philippines was announced in the ring, and saw at least three Chinese flags of equal size held in a supportive crowd. He and light welterweight Serik Sapiyev of Kazakhstan, both acknowledged strong ethnic support from the crowd.

That sentiment was echoed by boxers from other parts of the globe, such as Bulgaria, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine, who found a diverse culture of fans showing their support with chants, cheers and national flags. Bolstered by crowds of 4,212 and 5,173 for the final two sessions Friday and Saturday, attendance at the 11-day tournament totaled 41,445.

After outpointing Somjit Jongjohor of Thailand and scoring a knockdown in the process to capture the first U.S. gold, Warren said, "This reminded me of what Beijing is going to be. I'm a World Champion now, not number three or number two. I'm number one."

He said he would hang his medal around his mother Paulette's neck as he hopes to do at the Olympic Games. Paulette Warren-Gordon said, "I'm going crazy. I'm just so satisfied with today." Although she doesn't like flying, she said, "I'm looking forward to Beijing."

In his final, Andrade dominated another Thai boxer, Non Boonjunmnong, with accurate flurries, building a 13-3 lead before his opponent retired in the second round, complaining of a right shoulder injury.

Calling it "the most important fight of my life," Andrade said, "I was just taking my time and scoring."

In other championship bouts Saturday, Albert Selimov of Russia beat Ukrainian Vasyl Lomachenko at 125-pound featherweight, Frankie Gavin of England topped Domenico Valentino at 132-pound lightweight, Serik Sapiyev of Kazakhstan downed Russian Gennady Kovalev at 141-pound light welterweight, and Matvey Korobov of Russia repeated by beating Alfonso Blanco of Venezuela at 165-pound middleweight Korobov and Sapiyev, like Zou, were gold medalists in 2005.

In two close decisions, Sergei Vodopyanov of Russia edged Enkhbat Badar-Uugen of Mongolia at 119-pound bantamweight, and Abbos Atoev of Uzbekistan got past Russian Beterbeiv at 178-pound light heavyweight.