LAST UPDATE | 22 Oct 2022
IRELAND SENT A 10-woman team to Budva, Montenegro for the Women’s European Elite Boxing Championships and they will return to Dublin Airport carrying a record-smashing seven medals.
On finals Saturday, it was gold for Kellie Harrington, Amy Broadhurst and Aoife O’Rourke, each of whom topped the podium in pure style with dominant victories in their respective deciders at 60, 63 and 75kg.
Caitlin Fryers and Christina Desmond each took silver following defeats to at the final hurdle, adding to the bronzes already earned by Shannon Sweeney and Michaela Walsh at the previous stage.
Harrington, the reigning Olympic champion and 2018 world champion, had never before won the Europeans, injury limiting her to silver in 2019.
The Dubliner today completed her set of gold medals at the ‘big three’ championships, outclassing her younger Czech opponent Lenka Bernardova over all three rounds on her way to a 5-0 unanimous decision.
Harrington retained control for almost every second of the contest and had it all but wrapped up after two rounds, leading 20-18 on all five judges’ cards.
She now joins her lightweight predecessor Katie Taylor in becoming one of the only two Irish boxers ever to win gold at boxing’s three biggest championships. Harrington, who invited all four 60kg medallists to join her atop the podium for moment of mutual appreciation, continues to go from strength to strength less than two years out from the Paris Olympics.
Dundalk’s Broadhurst, meanwhile, completed a remarkable treble of her own, adding European gold to World Championship and Commonwealth gold medals earned in a breakout 2022.
The powerful southpaw hammered Ukrainian Mariia Bova on her way to a landslide UD victory.
Even more extraordinary about Broadhurst’s achievements this year is that they’ve occurred three kilograms north of her chosen weight, in the non-Olympic light-welterweight class. Broadhurst is a natural lightweight, but that Olympic spot is currently occupied by Harrington.
It remains to be seen if Broadhurst and Harrington will collide in the Irish Elites in the new year, with space for only one of them in Olympic qualifying in 2023.
She’s done it again: Roscommon’s Aoife O’Rourke is the back-to-back European champion, adding to her breakout success in 2019.
— Gavan Casey (@GavanCasey) October 22, 2022
Ireland finish these Europeans with three gold, two silver and two bronze.
A historic effort in Budva. pic.twitter.com/pUHNFrOtQe
Roscommon’s Aoife O’Rourke made it a hat-trick of golds for Ireland and personally became a back-to-back European champion at 75kg, beating Poland’s Elzbieta Wojcik from pillar to post to ostensibly retain the crown she first donned during her 2019 breakout.
In arguably the best performance of her career, O’Rourke’s routinely buckled Wojcik with powerful shots off either hand, her upper-body strength and sheer relentlessness ridding the Pole of her will over three brutal rounds.
O’Rourke had a unanimous decision all but sewn up with three minutes to spare and capped a glorious tournament for Zaur Antia, John Conlan and Dmitry Dmitruk’s 10-woman team as her hand was duly raised after the final bell.
Meanwhile, for Caitlin Fryers and Christina Desmond, there were disappointing results in their 50kg and 70kg finals but, equally, plenty gained as they each earned the most prestigious medals of their respective careers.
Boxing at her first Europeans, Fryers was defeated in her 50kg decider by Turkey’s reigning world champion Buse Naz Çakıroğlu.
The Belfast youngster brought plenty of aggression and activity but was ultimately outclassed by the far more experienced Turkish sensation, whose reflexes and counter-punching precision were almost picture-perfect.
Çakıroğlu ultimately took the bout on a lopsided unanimous decision and was full value for her victory. Fryers, meanwhile, is entitled to apply for €40,000 ‘podium’ funding from Sport Ireland for 2023 as a result of her European silver.
Desmond, meanwhile, was beaten on a 4-1 split decision by Armenia’s Ani Hovsepyan in what was a closer contest overall.
The Dungarvan-based garda previously won European bronze in 2016 and went one better this time around having been selected as a replacement for injured world champion Lisa O’Rourke, younger sister of back-to-back European champion Aoife.
Hovsepyan won a right first round on a clean sweep with the five judges, leaving Desmond with a mountain to climb. The Cill na Martra woman took the second on only two of five cards, leaving Hovsepyan with an ostensibly unassailable lead going into the last.
Similarly to Broadhurst’s predicament, it remains to be seen if Desmond will be allowed to challenge injured world champion O’Rourke in a bid to overtake her in the race for Olympic qualifying next year.
On Friday, Mayo’s Shannon Sweeney and Belfast’s Michaela Walsh took bronze at 48kg and 57kg respectively, taking Ireland’s total medal tally to a record-shattering seven, their previous best at the Europeans being three.
Ireland squad
- 48kg: Shannon Sweeney, St. Anne’s, Mayo
- 50kg: Caitlin Fryers, Immaculata BC, Belfast
- 52kg: Carly McNaul, Ormeau Road BC, Belfast
- 54kg: Niamh Fay, Phoenix of Ballyboughal BC, Dublin
- 57kg: Michaela Walsh, Emerald BC, Belfast
- 60kg: Kellie Harrington, St. Mary’s BC, Dublin
- 63kg: Amy Broadhurst, St. Bronagh’s ABC, Newry
- 66kg: Kaci Rock, Enniskerry BC, Wicklow
- 70kg: Christina Desmond, Dungarvan BC/Garda BC
- 75kg: Aoife O’Rourke, Olympic BC, Galway
