Mary Spencer no longer controls her own Olympic destiny.
The Windsor, Ont., boxer continues to wait to learn her fate after losing her opening bout at the World Championships in China last week.
Only one spot remains in the 75-kilogram weight class in women's boxing at the 2012 London Olympic Games. It will go to a wild card boxer from the Americas.
'We continue to train for the Olympics.'— Boxer Mary Spencer
"I can’t say I’m favoured to get it. I don't want to get everyone's hopes up. But my hopes are up," Spencer told CBC's Tony Doucette on The Early Shift in her first interview since returning from China. "I just wait. And in the meantime, we continue to train for the Olympics."
Spencer, a three-time world champion, was defeated by Sweden's Anna Rosalie Laurell at the World Championships. It cost Spencer an automatic qualification for the Games.
"The toughest part for me was watching the final; watching this fight thinking, 'I should be there collecting my gold medal,'" Spencer said.
Spencer now hopes to be awarded a wild-card spot by the International Olympic Committee's Tripartite Commission.
"It’s usually done in the ring, and I prove myself that way," she said of qualifying. "There’s nothing you can do about it. You have to move on and find the positives in any situation."
Spencer said a hectic and high-profile 2012 schedule forced her to gamble with which tournaments were most important to win. She won the Canadian championship in January and wanted to peak again for the Olympics later in the year.
"It's hard to peak three times in one year," she said.
That's why she said she "wasn't bawling like the rest of the girls at the World Championships."
"If I lost that fight, there’s a reason for it. I don’t want to make any excuses. I lost. She fought well that night," Spencer said. "My goal was always to win the Olympics, not the World Championships. In my mind, I’m going to qualify.
"I'm not [nervous], but I'm sure my mom is."
Spencer said she expects to hear one way or another in early June.