Kurt Walker
Boxing
BIOGRAPHY
Kurt Walker represented Ireland in the men’s featherweight boxing event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, finishing joint 5th overall.
He opened with a unanimous decision win over Spain’s Jose Quiles, then produced one of the upsets of the tournament – beating top seed and reigning world champion Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov of Uzbekistan by split decision to reach the quarter-finals, before losing to USA’s Duke Ragan.
Walker is from Lisburn, Co. Antrim and boxes with Lisburn Boxing Club. He won bronze at the 2017 European Championships, gold at the 2018 EU Championships, silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and gold at the 2019 European Games. His road to Tokyo was complicated – he failed to qualify at the March 2020 European qualifier and then the Covid-19 pandemic intervened – but his place was secured on ranking points after the qualification process was reconfigured.
The pandemic period brought even greater challenges: his daughter Layla was born three months premature in May 2020, weighing just 800 grams, and Walker put boxing entirely from his mind while she fought for her life. By the time the Tokyo Games took place in 2021, Layla was thriving and was the centrepiece of his preparations. He turned professional in November 2021.
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