The Russian women boxers won all of the three Olympic weight classes at the Grand Prix Usti nad Labem which was held in the Czech Republic from March 10 to 13. The competition served as good preparation for the AIBA World Women's Championships which will be held in Barbados in September and will be the first major event on the road to the London Olympic Games.

Altogether 38 athletes from 13 nations entered at the traditional Grand Prix where the female boxers took part for the first time in the competition's history. The participating nations were as follows: Russia, Poland, Germany, Kazakhstan, China, Tunisia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Spain, Georgia, Italy, Sweden and the Czech Republic.

The women boxers competed in the new Olympic weight categories: 51kg, 60kg and 75kg. Some of the best female boxers went up or moved down from their original weight classes to adjust for the new ones so they can follow their dreams to compete in the next Olympics.

AIBA Women's World Championships silver medalist Yelena Savelyeva of Russia outpointed Ahmet Comert winner 20-year-old Zhaina Shekerbekova of Kazakhstan in the 51kg final. Shekerbekova was very sad because two weeks ago she also lost the final in the Kazakh National Championships. Savelyeva gave an excellent performance in the Czech Republic; her most difficult contest was in the quarterfinal where she defeated Luo Jiaoling of China 6:3.

Two-time world champion Sofiya Ochigava of Russia went up into the lightweight category in the semifinal she surprised spectators by defeating two-time world champion and best female boxer in 2008, Ireland's Katie Taylor. The final score was 8:1 to the Russian in the semifinal and Ochigava went on to defeat AIBA World Championships silver medalist Cheng Dong of China in the final, winning the second gold for her country.

The third Russian victory was gained by three-time world champion Irina Sinetskaya in the middleweight class. She came back last year after the IOC's decision to include women's boxing in the London Olympic Games. The return was successful for Sinetskaya: She won the gold medal at the European Championships in September and also came first in the Usti nad Labem after beating former world champion Anna Laurell of Sweden in the quarterfinal, strong Desislava Lazarova of Bulgaria in the semifinal and finally Lidia Fidura of Poland in her last contest.

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