According to Boxing Canada, Canadian boxer Marie Al-Ahmadieh has withdrawn from a final Olympic qualifying match due to “unforeseen health issues.”

The 19-year-old Montrealer, silver medalist at the 2023 AMBC American Continental Championships, was scheduled to face Josefien Betist of Sierra Leone in the round of 16 in the women’s 57-kilogram class on Thursday.

“Marie is an integral part of our team and her dedication to her craft is commendable,” said Kraig Devlin, Boxing Canada’s head of high performance sport, in a statement. “However, given recent concerns regarding her health, it was deemed necessary to withdraw her from competition to ensure her well-being. We support Marie’s decision to prioritize her health and offer her our full support during this time.

Al-Ahmadieh is the second member of the Canadian team to be eliminated without a fight at Haumark Stadium. Victor Tremblay failed to make weight in his first fight in the 57 kg range.

Nine Canadians competed in the Bangkok tournament trying to make it into this summer’s Olympic field. There are three left.

Sara Kali, a 32-year-old from Montreal, will face Cape Verde’s Ivanusa (Nancy) Moreira in the round of 16 in the women’s 66 kg category on Friday.

Mckenzie Wright, 33, of St. Davids, Ontario, will face Aldana Florencia Lopez of Argentina in the round of 16 in the women’s 50-kilogram class on Friday. Argentina won a bronze medal at the 2022 IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships.

Scarlett Delgado, 28, of Brampton, Ontario, will face Enkhjargal Munguntsetseg at 54 kg in the round of 16 on Saturday. The 25-year-old Mongolian won the bronze medal at the 2023 IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships.

Canadians Terris Smith, Junior Petanqui, Keven Beausejour and Doni Foreman have already lost.

The qualifications in Bangkok, which will take place until Monday, will determine the 51 final places (23 for women and 28 for men) for the Paris Games.

Canada has already qualified two boxers for Paris, which includes 13 weight classes – seven for men and six for women.

Middleweight Tammara Thibeault (75 kilograms) and welterweight Wyatt Sanford (63.5 kilograms) booked their tickets thanks to their gold medals at last year’s Pan American Games. Both were members of the five-man Canadian boxing team for the Tokyo Olympics and Thibeault was the 2022 world champion.

Competitors must finish in the top four in Bangkok to secure their ticket to Paris, but that benchmark may change as Olympic host France is guaranteed a maximum of six quota places (three for women and three for men), so a country can claim a spot in a weight class even if it does not qualify as a fighter.

There will be no title fight at the Bangkok event. Action in each weight class will conclude when the final Olympic spots are decided.

The Olympic boxing qualification takes place in several stages.

The first were five continental qualifiers, including the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, which covered the Americas, followed by a first world qualifying tournament in Busto Arzizio, Italy, from February 29 to March 12.

To qualify for the Olympic Games in Italy, participants had to finish in the top four, although this number varied in certain weight classes. In Canada, two athletes finished in the top eight – Delgado and super heavyweight Alexis Barrière, who later decided to become a professional.

Canada has won 17 Olympic boxing medals (three gold, seven silver and seven bronze), but none since 1996, when heavyweight David Defiagbon won silver in Atlanta.