Kellie Harrington’s golden moment gave Irish boxing a fairytale ending at the Paris Olympics but with 8 of the 10 fighters losing their first fight, it has been a poor Olympics for Team Ireland in the ring.
Of course in Olympic boxing tournaments draws can be crucial. A fighter might be second best in a weight but if they lose in the first round, then it’s over for them and there’s no reward. In 2008, Ireland sent 5 boxers to the Olympics and every one of them lost out to the eventual gold medal winner!
Unfortunately for the Irish team, the subsequent results of their conquerors, bar one notable exception, don’t support the idea that they had very tough draws.
READ HERE: Noah Lyles Taken Away In Wheelchair In Surreal Scenes After 200m Final
READ HERE: Hilarious Dara Ó Briain Video Sums Up His Madcap Sporting Summer
Team Ireland: How boxing conquerors fared at the Olympics
Jude Gallagher (57kg) lost to Carlo Paalam of the Philippines, who lost his next fight to Australia’s Charlie Senior at the quarter-final stage.
Dean Clancy (63.5kg) lost to Obada Al-Kasbeh (Jordan) in a very tight contest but Al-Kasbeh lost in his next fight to the classy Sofiane Oumiha (France) who went on to reach the final.
Aidan Walsh (71kg) lost to France’s Makan Traore. He would then lose in the last 16 to Nikolai Terteryan (Denmark), who lost in the quarter-finals himself.
1 August 2024; Jack Marley of Team Ireland, left, in action against Davlat Boltaev of Team Tajikistan during their men's 92kg quarter-finals at the North Paris Arena during the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Jacob Marley (92kg) was the only Irish man to win a fight in Paris. He lost in the quarter-finals to Davlat Boltaev (Tajikistan) who lost in the semi-final but did at least win a bronze medal.
Daina Moorhouse’s (50kg) loss to France’s Wassila Lkhadir was the most controversial exit for an Irish boxer. The Frenchwoman left the Games empty-handed though, as she lost her next bout to Aire Villegas of the Philippines at the quarter-final stage.
Jennifer Lehane (54kg) is the only fighter to take some comfort from her opponent’s subsequent results. Lehane was beaten by China’s Chang Yuan and she went on to win 3 more bouts and claim the gold medal!
Michaela Walsh (57kg) lost to Bulgaria’s Svetlana Staneva in the last 16. The Bulgarian lost to Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting in her next bout.
Grainne Walsh (66kg) was beaten by Hungary’s Luca Hamori who won her next bout against Marissa Wilson (Australia). She was, however, beaten at the quarter-final stage by Algeria’s Imane Khelif.
31 July 2024; Elzbieta Wojcik of Team Poland, left, after winning against Aoife O'Rourke of Team Ireland in their women's 75kg preliminary round 16 bout at the North Paris Arena during the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Aoife O’Rourke lost a very tight bout to her rival Elzbieta Wojcik from Poland in the last 16. The Polish woman left without a medal though as she was beaten in the quarter-final by Atheyna Bylon (Panama).
As you can see, only two of those who defeated Irish fighters would win another bout and only one of those would go on to win a medal (admittedly gold!). At 80kg Kelyn Cassidy was beaten on two split decisions in qualifying bouts and both men went on to contest the final in Paris. While Kelyn can feel aggrieved at the draws he received, we don’t think most of those who made Paris can have too many complaints.
Kellie Harrington leaves with a gold medal but she won’t be around in 2028. If boxing is included in the LA programme, it will be interesting to see if the Irish team will have learned from this Paris experience.
SEE ALSO: Rob Heffernan's Read Of 400m Hurdles Final Has Intriguing Rhasidat Adeleke Implication
