'Fave' no longer feels like an underdog

Jutamas Jitpong bounces around the ring, eyes shielded by her gloved fists as she looks for an opening to land a jab.

- Tan Hui Yee

Her opponent lunges forward with a cross that is easily dodged.

For a split second, the lanky Thai boxer flashes a cheeky grin, before putting on a game face honed over the years in her hunt for an Olympic medal. No matter that this is a practice bout in the heart of Bangkok.

The 26-year-old daughter of rubber tappers, with the nickname of "Fave", has waited three years to redeem herself. During the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, she crashed out in the flyweight quarter-finals, losing 5-0 to Turkey's Buse Naz Cakiroglu, who went on to win the silver medal. She cried when interviewed by the Thai media after the match.

"I wasn't upset about my loss," she recounted to The Straits Times after a training session in May 2024. "I cried because I was talking about my family. The reporter had asked: 'What message do you have for your father and mother?' I said: 'I am sorry I couldn't go further'

"See? When I tell you this, I want to cry again."

Her family believed in her when no one not even herself - did.

"I'm not a talented boxer. People around me didn't believe in me. But my entire family has always believed I could do it. I am here because of my family."