Aoife O’Rourke
BOXING
BIOGRAPHY
Aoife’s first sport was gaelic football (her late grandfather Dan was GAA president) but she took to boxing immediately, winning the first of her six Irish senior titles in 2017. In 2018 she won silver at the European U22s and made her debut at World Seniors. In 2019 she won gold at the European Championships in Madrid (something only Katie Taylor has previously achieved). She took bronze at the world-class Strandja tournament in Sofia in February 2021 and bronze at the European Qualifying Tournament in Paris in June where her quarter-final victory over Poland’s Eizbieta Wokik (whom she beat in the 2019 European final) clinched her Olympic qualification.
OTHER BOXING ATHLETES
Aidan Walsh
Aidan WalshBOXING BIOGRAPHY Aidan won light welterweight gold at the 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games and silver (at welterweight) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. He had won one bout before the Olympic Qualifier in March 2020 was cancelled but came back and won a bronze medal at the last qualifying tournament in June 2021. He lost …
Emmet Brennan
Emmet BrennanBOXING BIOGRAPHY Emmet is a two-time Irish champion (once at 75kg, once at 81kg) who gave up boxing at one point, then quit his job and took out a Credit Union loan to pursue his Olympic dream. In March 2019 he needed a top six finish at the Olympic Qualifiers in London to qualify …
Kellie Harrington
Kellie HarringtonBOXING BIOGRAPHY Kellie won a silver medal in the light welterweight at the 2016 World Championship and then really blossomed by moving down to 60kg. She became world champion in New Delhi in 2018 and also won a bronze at European Championships that year. In 2019 she won silver at the European Games in …
Kurt Walker
Kurt WalkerBOXING BIOGRAPHY Kurt was a World and European Youth medallist in 2012 and 2013 respectively and won bronze at the 2017 European Championships. In 2018 he took silver at Commonwealth Games and gold at the EU Championships. In 2019 he won gold at the European Games, all at bantamweight (56kg). He had an exceptionally …
Brendan Irvine
Brendan IrvineBOXING BIOGRAPHY Brendan, who is captain of the boxing team, is competing in his second Olympics and was just 20 when he competed in Rio 2016 where he was beaten in the last 16 by Ukbekistan’s Shakhobiddin Zoirov. He won 49kg silver at the 2015 European Games in Baku. In 2017 he won a …
Michaela Walsh
Michaela WalshBOXING BIOGRAPHY Michaela won flyweight silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where she was beaten in the final by the reigning Olympic champion Nicola Adams. In 2018, fighting at featherweight, she won bronze at the European Championships and a second Commonwealth silver. In 2019 she won seven of nine international fights and silver at …
BOXING NEWS
The Mastermind Behind Team Ireland’s Success in Boxing – Zauri Antia
Described as ‘the mastermind behind Team Ireland’s success in boxing’, Zauri Antia was the very popular winner of the OFI’s prestigious President’s Award recently for services to Irish Olympic sport. The word ‘mastermind’ conjures up images of an evil genius hiding his secrets in a mountainous lair but there is nothing surreptitious about Antia or …
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TEAM IRELAND OLYMPIC BALL HONOURS EUROPEAN GAMES & AWARDS
Link to imagery HERE Athletes and performance enablers gather to celebrate Olympic sport in Ireland Last night, the Olympic Federation of Ireland (OFI) hosted the Team Ireland Olympic Ball at the Mansion House in Dublin, to celebrate the achievements and contributions of members of the Irish Olympic family in 2023, as well as to …
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Olympic Movement Breaks Launched in Primary Schools Nationally
Team Ireland athletes star as Olympic Movement Breaks is launched in primary schools nationally The Olympic Federation of Ireland and the Active School Flag programmes work together to get Irish primary school pupils more active Minister of State for Sport and Physical Education Thomas Byrne TD Launches Initiative The Minister of State for Sport and …
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IOC EB puts forward LA28’s additional sports proposal to the IOC Session
Baseball/softball, cricket (T20), flag football, lacrosse (sixes) and squash are the five sports submitted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s Executive Board (EB) to the upcoming IOC Session as additional sports for the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 (LA28). These additional sports were proposed by the LA28 Organising Committee, for its edition of the Games only, …
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HUGH RUSSELL – OLYMPIC BRONZE MEDALLIST – RIP
The Olympic Federation of Ireland is sad to hear of the passing of Olympic Bronze Medallist Hugh Russell. The Belfast boxer died following a short illness and is remembered fondly by the Irish Olympic and boxing community. He won his bronze medal in the Men’s Flyweight category at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. The OFI …
EUROPEAN GAMES – DAY 6 – RUGBY SEVENS AND BOXER DEAN CLANCY WIN
Irish rugby sevens team open with a big win over hosts Poland Dean Clancy wins lightweight bout to advance to quarter final Diver Clare Cryan through to final in 3M Springboard Three Irish feature in Modern Pentathlon fence, swim and laser run On the sixth day of the European Games the Irish Men’s Rugby …
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