She may be used to keeping her gloves up when defending herself in the boxing ring, but as a nurse on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, Olympic hopeful Arisa Tsubata's gloves are providing a defense of a different kind.
Tsubata has been balancing her huge responsibilities at a hospital near Tokyo with her boxing career, as she eyes a spot in the women's middleweight event at the Summer Games next year.
"I'm a nurse. I want to contribute to preventing the virus from spreading even if it's only by a little," the 26-year-old said in a phone interview.