海角大神

Legnis Cala Mass贸 carefully removes her necklace and smiles as her coach slides her bright red boxing gloves over her French tip nails.

The 31-year-old swings her wiry body into the ring and pounds her fellow boxer 鈥� also a young woman 鈥� with a series of punches, just as she鈥檚 done countless times before.

Today is a day she鈥檚 been waiting for since she started to box seven years ago.

Cuban officials announced Monday that women boxers would be able to compete officially after decades of restrictions, though they didn鈥檛 yet confirm if that would be taken to a professional level like it was with Cuban male boxers earlier this year.

Still, it sparked excitement in women like Ms. Cala Mass贸 who have spent years fighting to be recognized.

鈥淪aying that boxing is not for Cuban women 鈥� that鈥檚 always been the problem,鈥� she said, leaning on the side of a blue boxing ring in downtown Havana. 鈥淲here we are now, we never thought we would get here.鈥�

Cuba is known worldwide for boxing, home to many legendary male boxers 鈥� among them F茅lix Sav贸n, Te贸filo Stevenson, and Julio C茅sar La Cruz 鈥� and owner of dozens of Olympic medals in the sport.

But the island has also sparked controversy by not allowing women to compete, despite permitting them to do so in other contact sports like taekwondo and wrestling.

Perhaps most notably in 2009, the former head coach of Cuba鈥檚 men鈥檚 team Pedro Roque told a group of journalists that 鈥淐uban women are there to show their beautiful faces, not to take punches.鈥�

It was a sentiment Ms. Cala Mass贸 and other women who have embraced the sport have rejected as they鈥檝e sought to change the rules.

Ms. Cala Mass贸 began boxing in Havana with just one other woman, spending long hours training despite being turned away by many coaches and boxing rings. With time, interest in boxing among women has only grown.

On Monday morning, officials with Cuba鈥檚 National Institute for Sports, INDER, announced in a press conference that they would hold a competition of 42 women boxers in mid-December to choose 12 athletes for a women鈥檚 team.

The team, they said, will compete in the Central American and Caribbean Games in El Salvador, their first international debut. The competition will be a first step toward the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Women were first allowed to box in the Olympics in 2012.

Ms. Cala Mass贸, who now trains with five other women, hopes the decision means their community will only grow.

The announcement comes shortly after Cuban boxers made a comeback in May in Mexico, with male boxers competing professionally 鈥� and getting paid 鈥� for the first time since the communist government prohibited professional sports 60 years ago. It was a big change in a country where athletes, namely boxers and baseball players, regularly leave for paychecks elsewhere.

Down the line, once the team is built, those women could also potentially compete in a professional capacity, INDER officials said.

Meanwhile, they said Cuban women boxers will be able to train in state sports centers starting in January.

Emilia Rebecca Hern谩ndez, of INDER, said that the changes would make it so 鈥淐uban women athletes can move up to the place where they belong 鈥� right next to men.鈥�

Yet Ms. Hern谩ndez, who spoke only briefly, was the only woman on a panel of male officials who said their delay in allowing women to practice the sport was because they had to investigate 鈥渢he risks that women could run.鈥�

Women will wear additional padding, they said.

Yet for 22-year-old Giselle Bello Garcia, who boxed alongside Ms. Cala Mass贸 after having only started boxing one year earlier for exercise, said the news offers them a chance to show what they鈥檙e made of.

鈥淚 have a new hope for life, because my life has changed. From now on, I鈥檓 going to focus solely on boxing,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 want my whole life, up until my death, to be connected to boxing.鈥�

鈥淚 have to be the best,鈥� she added.

This story was reported by The Associated Press. Havana correspondent Andrea Rodr铆guez contributed to this report.