Michaela Walsh has secured her spot in qualifying for the Paris Olympics 2024. Her great performances at the European Games have also secured her a bronze medal, with the opportunity to upgrade to a gold or silver.
Fellow Team Ireland boxer Aoife O’Rourke has also added a medal to her continental collection, guaranteeing at least a bronze and the possibility of silver or gold.
In an impressive performance, Belfast fighter Walsh claimed a decisive 5-0 unanimous decision victory in the quarter-final, defeating Melissa Juvonen Mortensen from Denmark yesterday evening. The 30-year-old will join Harrington in becoming a two-time Olympian, having fought at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
MICHAELA WALSH, 👀 SEE YOU IN PARIS 🇫🇷
TICKET FOR ONE PLEASE 🎟️ @Paris2024 #TeamIreland pic.twitter.com/Fisx8oyuRy
— Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) June 28, 2023
“Not many people get to achieve that once in their life, never mind twice,” Walsh told RTÉ Sport.
“My brother (Aidan) has the bragging rights over me, he’s an Olympic (bronze) medallist, so hopefully I can go to Paris and get one or two better than him!
“I look at his medal when I come down the stairs every day and it’s something I want to achieve. Obviously the goal was to achieve qualification. I’m just going through the rest of tournament aiming to perform at the best of my ability and I’ll see where that takes me.”
O’Rourke dominated her fight against Sweden’s Love Nelli Holgersson in the middleweight quarter-final bout at the European Games. Unlike it was in the case of Harrington and Walsh, the quarter-final victory wasn’t enough to secure Olympic qualification for O’Rourke.
🥊 | BOXING
Winner, Winner,a guaranteed medal for Aoife O’Rourke, she’ll need to win the semifinal to book her seat on the plane to Paris 🇫🇷#TeamIreland | #EG2023 pic.twitter.com/hk3E9nG9Ga
— Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) June 28, 2023
To secure a spot in the Paris Olympics, the two-time European Championship gold medalist will need to win her next bout against Elzbieta Wojcik from Poland, ensuring her place in the final.