Sarah Deming

Mr. Sai lost his horse, and everyone thought he was very unlucky. Then the horse came back, bringing with it a herd of wild horses. Now everyone thought Mr. Sai was very lucky. When riding one of the wild horses, Mr. Sai's son was thrown to the ground, breaking his...

"It's silly to come all the way to China for a continental championship," says a friend of mine as we pore over the bracket sheets trying to figure out scenarios by which Claressa Shields can get to London. The explosive seventeen-year-old from Flint has already won gold at the Americas...

Team USA's got the blues. Not even the arrival of journalist Raquel Ruiz could dispel the gloom when Queen Underwood lost her Olympic bid.

Raquel sashayed across the arena floor in her peep-toe wedges, zipped up my dress, charmed some documentarians, and embraced U.S. flyweight Marlen Esparza, who had...

You can tell the Qinhuangdao Grand is not an American hotel by the gas masks in the closet and the cops in the hall. The cops helped me figure out how to use my card key; I hope the gas masks don't come in handy.

The 2012 Women's World Boxing...

Before every night of boxing in the Continental Championships, a certain rousing theme has been broadcast throughout the NAV Center's auditorium.

"This is my new favorite song," says Zack, one of the documentarians following Claressa Shields.

The anthem has choral singing over some...

Now I know why sportswriters gloat when their favorites win. I held my head a little higher after 17 year-old Claressa Shields of Flint, Mich. thoroughly outclassed Brazil's Roseli Feitosa, a 2010 World Champion and the vastly more experienced fighter.

Shields knelt in prayer in her corner...

The U.S. boxers who didn't fight tonight got in a light afternoon workout, and I summoned the nerve to train alongside them. Champs is a tiny, sweat-soaked gym set incongruously amid suburban homes. When we got there, Franchon Crews found a recorder left behind by the documentary filmmakers.

Fifty three women boxers in 10 weight classes are here in Cornwall, Ontario, competing for the right to call themselves the best in the Americas. Twelve countries are here, and it would have been 13 but Venezuela bought tickets to Ontario, California by mistake.

Scrappy flyweight Alex Love got...

Boxing has always been a sport for the underdog - women's boxing doubly so - and nobody appreciates underdogs more than the Kalispel Tribe.

"This has been a complete blessing for all of us," said tribal elder Francis Cullooyah. "It's wonderful to see these ladies striving for...

It was a near-capacity crowd at the Northern Quest in Spokane for the final night of the Olympic trials in women's boxing. Of the twenty-four fighters, the field had been narrowed to six finalists vying for three spots.

Kalispel elder Francis Cullooyah led an opening prayer, and...

I dragged myself out of bed this morning to peep the 7 AM weigh-in. Each day's boxers must show up on weight or else forfeit their matches. Because there are only three Olympic weight classes for women, several of the fighters in this tournament are boxing outside of...

This was the third night of hard work for the twelve fighters in the challengers bracket. Six go home, leaving just twelve in the running for the U.S. Olympic team.

Flyweights

Tyrieshia Douglas handed Taversha Norwood the first stoppage of the...

A heartbreaking Valentine's Day for five of the women in the U.S. Olympic trials, who were eliminated in tonight's bouts or forced to withdraw for medical reasons. This leaves 18 still vying for the three Olympic berths.

Flyweights

Hometown favorite Alex Love came out very strong against boxer-puncher Marlen...

There were no real surprises tonight at the Pend Oreille Pavillion, except how moving it all was. A Kalispel elder kicked things off with a prayer, first in the delicate Salish language and then in English. I got sort of weepy when he asked the Grandfather Creator to bless the...

The Northern Quest Casino, eight miles west of Spokane, is home to fourteen restaurants and bars, two thousand slot machines, an OTB, some heartbreaking exhibits about Native American history, and -- for the next week -- twenty-four women boxers trying to get to the Olympics.

This year marks...

HuffPost blogger Sarah Deming is writing daily from the "Kalachakra for World Peace" event in Washington D.C. Scroll down for all of her updates from the event.

Saturday 7/16: Alternative Time

There are three olives in the martini I am drinking. There are three wheels of time in...