Las Vegas’ Vashti Cunningham Qualifies For Olympics

She is Las Vegas born and raised. She is a Bishop Gorman High School alum who was signed to Nike at 18 years old. Now 26-year-old Vashti Cunningham has punched her ticket to her third-ever Olympic games.

At the US Track & Field Trials at the absolute cathedral of the sport, Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, Cunningham crushed the high jump at 6 feet, 3.75 inches. It was a tight race for the third and final spot in the Paris Summer Olympics, but she got it and will be able to add another Olympics to her resume.

While the Olympics haven't produced a medal for Vashti Cunningham yet (finishing 13th in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games and 6th in the 2021 Tokyo Summer Games), in the states she has been lights out.

In both national championships and Olympic trials, she has finished in first all but twice out of 15 events. This year's third place finish marks her lowest result in her career, but there is plenty of upside to her leap. With an improvement in her Olympic trajectory over two games, perhaps it is her third go that will bring her a coveted Olympic medal.

Vashti is a phenom and we are beyond proud to have her in Las Vegas. It took hard work and dedication to get to where she got today. Plus, she had a lot of inspiration for greatness by way of her father.

Her dad is Randall Cunningham, UNLV Rebels football star who went on to a long career as an NFL quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens.

Her uncle? Sam Cunningham who played 10 seasons with the New England Patriots back in the 1970s and 1980s.

Even her brother Randall Jr is a track and field star in his own right. The 6 foot 6 inch phenom played football at Silverado and Bishop Gorman then moved onto USC performing incredibly well including winning the gold in the 2015 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships the same year his sister scored the gold for the women's division.

Now, it is time for Vashti Cunningham to blaze her own path. Off to Paris she goes with one goal in mind: Olympic gold.

There's something so classic about boxing. It's not just men, of course. Today, the best female boxers in the world really stand up to any of the guys. So, which female boxers are currently ruling it in the ring in 2024?

Before we get into the best female boxers in the world right now, let's look ahead to a major boxing event happening later this summer. The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris will be a big chance to spotlight the best female and male boxers in the world. Boxing has been a part of the Olympics for more than a century. It made its debut at the modern Olympic Games in 1904, and boxing has been part of every Summer Games since, except for the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, because Swedish law banned boxing back then. At the first Olympics with boxing in 1904, the U.S.A. won it all in St. Louis, because it was the only NOC to compete in the event. Over the years, Team U.S.A. athletes have dominated in boxing, winning 117 medals overall. Other countries that have done well include Cuba with 78 medals and Great Britain with 62 medals. Women's boxing first became part of the Olympic program at the London 2012 games.

The rules are a bit different in Olympic boxing. "Only amateur boxers are allowed to compete, which means the Olympic Games are often the starting point of a glittering career for some of the biggest names in the sport, including none other than Muhammad Ali," the official Olympics website states. Also, "between 1984 and 2012, male boxers were required to wear protective headgear, but the rule was abandoned for the 2016 Rio Games," although "female boxers are still required to wear head guards." In Olympic boxing, each bout is disputed in three rounds of three minutes each for men and four rounds of two minutes each for ladies. After each round, each of the judges picks a winner based on the judging criteria. The winner of that round gets 10 points. The loser can get between seven to nine points, depending on their performance level. At the end of all the rounds, the judges do the math to see who won.

So, if you're a boxing fan, you have the Olympics up ahead. Now, onto the best female boxers in the world in 2024, from Claressa Shields to Natasha Jonas and more. These are professional boxers, so you won't see them in Paris. If you love boxing, send me your favorite female boxers. My dad was a boxer, so it's in my blood.

Natasha Jonas recently went up against Mikaela Mayer and kept her IBF welterweight title with a split-decision win. Two judges gave the fight to Jonas 96-94 and 96-95, and the other gave it to Mayer 97-93. The former Olympian's next fight is to be determined.

Chantelle Cameron went up against the great Katie Taylor back in May, and although she didn't win, she was very impressive in the ring. Many have their eyes on Cameron as the next big thing in female boxing. Her next fight is to be determined.

Amanda Serrano is currently the reigning undisputed featherweight champion, but in the past, she's been champion in a rage of lighter weight classes. The Puerto Rican professional boxer is also versed in mixed martial arts and professional wrestling. Her next fight is to be determined.

Los Angeles' Seniesa Estrada is the WBA minimumweight champion. She's beaten a range of big names, including Marlen Esparza and Tenkai Tsunami. Her night fight is to be determined.

Irish professional boxer Katie Taylor was an Olympic gold medalist and went pro in 2016. She has beaten everyone from Jessica McCaskill to Victoria Bustos to Eva Wahlstrom. Her next fight is to be determined. She's the undisputed lightweight champion and undisputed super lightweight champion.

This Flint, Michigan, native is arguably the greatest female boxer of today. She's the middleweight undisputed champion. Shields is also the only boxer, male or female, to hold all four major world titles, WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO, at the same time in two weight classes. The two-time Olympic gold medalist is moving up two weight classes to challenge women's WBC heavyweight champion Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse in July at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.