Claressa Shields: ‘I’m not here for people to cry and feel sorry for me’

The two-time Olympic gold medal-winning boxer’s life has been turned into rousing drama The Fire Inside, written by Oscar winner Barry Jenkins

Claressa Shields was two months removed from defending her Olympic gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games when an email from Hollywood landed in her inbox. Universal Studios wanted to make a movie about her life story. For Shields, who had spent much of her career fighting for recognition in a sport that marginalized women when they weren’t ignoring them entirely, the offer felt like more than just a career milestone. It was a rare mainstream acknowledgment of her achievements and a chance to amplify to a wider audience the struggles she had endured in and out of the ring.

“I never checked my emails back then,” Shields says with a laugh. “But I saw the subject line, and it said something about a movie. I thought, ‘A movie about my life? OK, let’s see what they’re talking about.’” That email kicked off a series of phone calls and meetings with the Oscar-winning screenwriter Barry Jenkins and other industry heavyweights. “We negotiated for a year. I was only 20, so I made sure I had a lawyer,” she recalls. “I wasn’t going to just sign anything. But once the contract was finalized, the ball started rolling.”

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Sheffield United takeover completed as COH Sports buys Championship leaders

  • Buyout of Prince Abdullah’s United World Group finalised
  • Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy become co-chairmen

The takeover of the Championship leaders Sheffield United by COH Sports has been completed. Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy have joined the board as co-chairmen with immediate effect after the buyout of Prince Abdullah bin Mosa’ad’s United World Group was finalised.

The takeover includes ownership of Sheffield United Women, SUFC Hotel Ltd and all real estate. “We are honoured and humbled to become the new owners of this historic football club,” Rosen and Eltoukhy told the club website. “We are excited to embark on this journey and our work begins today to deliver long-term success for Sheffield United over a sustained period of time.

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