Kellie Harrington
BOXING
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 Minsk but suffered a hand injury in that semi-final, forced her out of the subsequent Europeans. She returned to competition, for the first time in seven months, at the 2020 Strandja tournament in Bulgaria where she lost the final to Mira Potkonen. In 2021 she won another silver at Strandja and she won gold at the final Olympic qualifying event in Paris in June, where her quarter-final defeat of IBF super-featherweight world champion Maiva Hamadouche clinched her Olympic spot.
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 …
Aoife O’Rourke
Aoife O’RourkeBOXING 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 …
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
Team Ireland’s Tokyo Chef de Mission appointed as IABA High Performance Consultant
Team Ireland’s Tokyo Olympics Chef de Mission, Tricia Heberle has been appointed IABA High Performance Consultant. Arising from her Olympic Federation of Ireland role, Tricia joins IABA with a deep understanding of the Irish high performance system, and a wealth of experience in strategy, planning, logistics, coordination and communication. She joins IABA’s High Performance Unit …
Team Ireland’s Tokyo Chef de Mission appointed as IABA High Performance Consultant Read More »
The Longest Ten Seconds – Aidan Walsh
IT’S only 21 months since the 2020 Olympic welterweight bronze medal was placed around Aidan Walsh’s neck in Tokyo and it’s already looking the worse for wear but that’s exactly how he likes it. “The colour has already worn away in places because that many have held it,” he laughs. “It’s got a dent in …
TOKYO MEDAL MOMENTS REVISITED: PART 2 – AIDAN WALSH
BELFAST BOXING’S OLYMPIC BRONZE MEDALLIST AIDAN WALSH ‘THE LONGEST TEN SECONDS’ 25 April 2023 Aidan Walsh’s Olympic bronze medal moment is revisited in the second video in a three-part mini docuseries from the Olympic Federation of Ireland. The series reflects on some of the stories behind the Team Ireland Tokyo 2020 medallists. The Belfast boxer wrote …
TOKYO MEDAL MOMENTS REVISITED: PART 2 – AIDAN WALSH Read More »
RECIPIENTS OF OFI MAKE A DIFFERENCE FUND
ADDITIONAL FUNDS ADDED WITH €115,000 DISTRIBUTED ACROSS 16 SPORTS Following an overwhelming response in applications to the Make a Difference athlete fund that was announced by the OFI Athletes’ Commission earlier this year, the Olympic Federation of Ireland has channelled an additional €50,000 directly to athletes. Athletes across sixteen sports were awarded a total amount …
KELLIE HARRINGTON AMONG FIVE IRISH WOMEN THROUGH TO THE FINAL OF EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS ON A HISTORIC DAY
Five Irish boxers Kellie Harrington, Amy Broadhurst, Tina Desmond and Caitlin Fryers and Aoife O’Rourke are through to tomorrow’s gold medal contests at the European Elite women’s championships in Budva, Montenegro. Earlier, there was disappointment for Tokyo Olympian and Commonwealth Games featherweight champion Michaela Walsh, who lost on a split decision to her long-time nemesis …
Team Ireland at the Women’s European Boxing Championships: Six Bronze Medals Secured with possible silver and gold
Amy Broadhurst, Christina Desmond, Michaela Walsh, Shannon Sweeney, Kellie Harrington and Caitlin Fryers have all won their quarter-final bouts meaning Team Ireland have secured at least 6 Bronze medals and a chance at winning silver or gold in Montenegro. Broadhurst, moved into the light welterweight semi-finals with a victory over her Serbia’s Milena Malovic, she …
