The United States has its first medal in Olympic women's boxing, as of Thursday at the 2012 London Olympics. That isn't to say they've been shut out of it previously - this is the first year women's boxing has been included in the Olympics, and though they weren't in the final matches for Flyweight or Lightweight, Flint, Michigan's own Claressa Shields represented the United States in the Middleweight division on Thursday.

Shields was taking on Nadezda Torlopova, who made a strong run to the finals with impressive victories over Edith Ogoke of Nigeria in the quarterfinals (a lopsided 18-8 victory) and Jinzi Li of China (a narrower, 12-10 victory). Shields had arguably tougher competition though, fighting the very experienced Anna Laurell ton 18-14 win and then running circles around Marina Volnova in the semifinals (a 29-15 win). Volnova went on to win the bronze medal.

Against Torlopova, Shields started slow - as she's been doing throughout the Olympics - having a 3-3 round one, but dominated from then-on. Round two saw her go up 10-7 altogether, and round three was a 5-3 affair. Lastly, a 4-2 round four sealed it for Shields, who won on points.

Be sure to stay right here with this StoryStream for more coverage of local athletes at the Summer Games. Also head over to SB Nation's Olympic hub for more coverage from London.