Michaela Walsh
Boxing
BIOGRAPHY
Michaela Walsh represented Ireland in the women’s 57kg featherweight boxing event at two Olympic Games, making the round of 16 at both Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.
At Tokyo she lost a close fight to Italy’s Irma Testa; at Paris she was beaten on a unanimous 5-0 decision by Bulgaria’s Svetlana Staneva. Walsh grew up in west Belfast and boxes at Emerald Boxing Club. Her father Damien was a boxer and introduced both Michaela and her younger brother Aidan to the sport before they had reached their teens. She first represented Ireland internationally aged 15, winning silver at the inaugural European Women’s Junior Boxing Championships. She went on to win silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the flyweight division and silver again at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in featherweight, before claiming gold at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. She holds a record 11 Irish Elite titles.
At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, she and Aidan made history as the first brother and sister to compete in Olympic boxing at the same Games. Aidan won a bronze medal at those Games.







