Resilient Athletes
After lockdown, a boxing pioneer rebuilds in China
This ongoing photo series examines the ways the coronavirus pandemic has upended and reshaped athletes' lives.
Michele Aboro last saw her wife, Masca, and daughter, Blue, on Jan. 23, when they left Shanghai -- where the six-time boxing world champion runs a gym -- to celebrate Lunar New Year in her family's hometown near Shenzhen, China. Aboro stayed behind. Within days, a neighbor there was diagnosed with COVID-19, and mother and daughter evacuated to Hong Kong. Aboro closed her gym, not knowing how long the lockdown would last.
After a month, Aboro Academy reopened with half the staff, a raft of regulations and an abundance of caution. As the world reels from the coronavirus pandemic, Aboro rebuilds her gym, one class at a time.
“We need to be very careful because if somebody got sick in the gym that would be the end of us.”
Written by Elaine Teng
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