Steven Donnelly represented Ireland in the welterweight division at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. He defeated Algeria’s Zohir Kedache in the round of 32 and Mongolia’s Byamba Tüvshinbat in the round of 16 before losing to Morocco’s Mohammed Rabii in the quarterfinals.

His route to Rio was an unlikely one. He had previously represented Northern Ireland at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, where he was eliminated in the first round and subsequently sent home by team management for a breach of conduct. He walked away from boxing for two years afterwards, eventually returning to All Saints Boxing Club in Ballymena. His comeback brought significant success — he won bronze for Northern Ireland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and again at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. He qualified for Rio 2016 via his fourth-place ranking in the World Series of Boxing, where a combination of results involving boxers ranked above him opened the door. He turned professional in 2018.