Canada's Mary Spencer celebrates after defeating Yenebier Gillen of the Dominican Republic in the women's boxing 75-kilogram gold medal bout during the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico on Saturday.Nathan Denette
Mary Spencer made history by claiming the first women's boxing gold medal at the Pan American Games, and then was given the honour of carrying Canada's flag in the closing ceremonies.
But the boxer from Windsor, Ont., said that rather than celebrate her performance in Mexico, she hopes to harness the energy she's gained from these Games to help her prepare for the London Olympics, where she'll be a favourite to win gold when women's boxing makes its debut.
"It's a huge boost," Spencer said, hours before taking the flag for Sunday night's closing ceremonies at Omnilife Stadium. "I still have that same goal, but every time you get to represent your country for whatever you're doing, it just makes you that much more excited. I don't really know how to explain it except that getting that boost, that extra edge is just amazing.
"I want to say that I'm completely motivated on a daily basis, but at the same time, this will definitely help to keep that fire lit."
The 26-year-old Spencer is a three-time world champion and won gold at these Games in the women's 75-kilogram boxing event.
She was attending teammate Mandy Bujold's bout Saturday night — Bujold also won gold — when her coach Charlie Stewart gave her the news about carrying Canada's flag.
"I said, 'Oh come on, you're just trying to make this week better, right?"' Spencer said. "It just blew my mind, it's amazing."
Spencer was a natural choice according to Canada's leader at the Games.
"She represents everything we admire in athletes: focus, dedication and awe-inspiring talent," said Jacques Cardyn, Canada's chef de mission.
Spencer quickly gained celebrity status at the boxing venue in Guadalajara — one of the noisiest and most crowded of the Games. Fans clamoured for autographs, and chanted her name.
"They put a little twist on it, I think it was 'Maria,"' she said, laughing. "But it was very nice to hear, very encouraging."
The perennial Canadian boxing champion said she soaked up as much of her first multi-Games experience as she could, and plans to put it to good use for the London Olympics nine months from now.
"Because I see it as a preparation for the Olympics, I've been taking mental notes of things that I need to make sure that I do before the Olympics and I've never had that opportunity because I've never been major sporting event before the Pan Am Games," Spencer said.
"Also, I need to keep myself grounded in a sense that I know when I go home it's not about celebrating the Pan Ams even though one day I'm going to look back and it's going to be like, what an amazing experience. When I get home I know I have to be back in the gym and trying to correct the mistakes I made here and to be that much better for the season next year."
She said her highlight of the Games was the spirit among the 493-member Canadian team.
"The spirit has been high, there's been a lot of encouragement and excitement in the (athletes) village. Everyone just had a great experience because of that," she said. "We had wonderful turnouts and everyone can be happy with how they performed, but just the spirit and excitement and encouragement we had was amazing."
Christine Sinclair, the captain of Canada's women's soccer team which won its first-ever Pan Am gold medal, was the flag bearer for the opening ceremony on Oct. 14.