It wasn't to be for Jack Marley in Paris on Thursday, as the Dubliner missed out on an Olympic medal in the quarter-finals of the men's heavyweight division.
The 21-year-old came up against a daunting opponent in second seed Davlat Boltaev from Tajikistan, a gold medallist at the 2022 Asian Games.
Though Marley put up a spirited fight, he would ultimately come out second best in all three rounds and lost out 4-1 on a split decision.
After his bout, Marley revealed that he had misheard the coaches in his corner during the fight, and thought that he was in a position to win going into the final round even having lost the previous two rounds.
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Jack Marley frustrated with mistake during Olympic quarter-final defeat
Irish youngster Jack Marley did himself proud on the Olympic stage on Thursday night but his hope of securing at least a bronze medal was ultimately dashed by a ruthless display from his opponent Davlat Boltaev.
The defeat was made all the more difficult to swallow by the fact the Irishman misunderstood the messaging from his coaches during the round and believed that he had won the first round.
'We won't moan about it. It's a privilege to be here on this top international stage at 21 years of age' - Jack Marley speaks after his quarter-final exit at the hands of Davlat Boltaev#RTESport #Paris2024
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📱Updates https://t.co/FdweZoIeSi pic.twitter.com/n2adeE3dop— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 1, 2024
Marley told RTÉ after his fight that he thought that things were all square going into the final round when, in reality, he would have required a stoppage to win the bout.
I obviously misheard the corner. I thought I was up in the first, down in the second. I thought it was all level going into the last. I thought I'd done enough there to win it.
Look, we won't moan about it. It is what it is. It's a privilege to be here on this international stage at 21 years of age. I've to pinch myself
It's gonna be a hard one to swallow for the next few days.
Despite his disappointment, Marley was magnanimous in defeat and said that he was honoured to have represented his family and the people of Sallynoggin on the Olympic stage.
It feels a bit weird, I wasn't overwhelmed. I might have billed it up a bit too much in my own head because I qualified the year before.
I adapted well, I really enjoyed it.
Losing to the Asian champion on such fine margins...sure look, it is what it is.
He was also humorously evasive when asked whether he would be back in LA in 2028, saying that he would take the immediate aftermath of Paris on a day-by-day basis.
We'll see, I don't even know what I'm doing tomorrow now! We'll see what happens tomorrow morning when I wake up.
It has been a difficult day for Irish boxing, but Jack Marley can join Daina Moorehouse in holding his head high after a valiant effort in Paris.
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