When the bell rang in the 2023 Pacific Games women’s 50kg boxing final, Queanbeyan’s
Monique Suraci had done enough to achieve her lifelong dream - to become an Olympian.
It’s been an arduous journey for the 23-year-old, who narrowly missed selection for Tokyo in 2021 and the Commonwealth Games in 2022.
So much was the relief of finally making the team for Paris, that the usually reserved and unemotional Monique let it all out for the world to see.
“I'm not a crier, I don't cry,” Monique said.
“After the win I started crying. I think I was just thinking about everything. I was thinking about all the times in the gym that things didn't go right, or fights that didn't go right, or the sacrifices that I gave for the sport, the relationships I lost for the sport, the friends I never see, my family that I never see. I was very emotional.”
Monique’s boxing journey began at her local PCYC in Canberra during primary school and from there she fought her way through the ranks, taking gold in 2018 at the Youth Oceania Championships as well as making the last 16 at the Youth World Championships in Budapest.
She has continued to build on the fundamentals and in 2023 took an impressive 13 wins from 16 fights.
When she makes her Olympic debut at the Arena Paris Nord she will have one goal on her mind, an Olympic gold medal.
“I have a dream and that dream is to be Australia's first female boxer to win a gold medal at the Paris Olympic Games,” she said. “That's my dream.”
No matter what she achieves in Paris, Monique is already creating Australian Olympic history, becoming the first Australian female boxer in the women’s 50kg category.
She is also part of the largest Australian boxing contingent at an Olympics and a member of the largest boxing team of any nation in Paris.
Going to her first Olympics means the world to Monique, who said it only adds to her confidence.
“I can't explain to you the amount of support and the teamwork and the drive that we all have,” she said.
“It is just incredible to be in that team. I'm telling you right now, every single one of those people, I could go up to any single one of them and sit down and have a deep and meaningful conversation about anything. I trust them.
“I love training with them. You can learn so much from each of our team members, coaching staff included. We have this diverse but incredible group of people in that team, and being able to train with them every day, it just makes you want to become a better boxer and even a better person.”
The women’s 50kg preliminary rounds will be held at North Paris Arena on 28 July 8:20pm (AEST).
This article was originally written for The Australian Olympic Team. You can read the published version here
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