Olympic dream parked for now as Christina Desmond prepares for frontline return
Christina Desmond finished her two weeks of quarantine on Tuesday.
For someone who is used to juggling life as an amateur boxer and a member of An Garda Síochána, the fortnight’s pause was an unwelcome adjustment.
In an attempt to pass the time at home in Cill na Martra, there was plenty of baking, and a bit of running on the deserted roads around mid-Cork.
The 23-year old returns to work this weekend. Truth be told, she cannot wait to put back on the navy uniform and rejoin the frontline.
Her period in quarantine was not symptom-related. Having flown back from London in the middle of last month, Desmond, in keeping with the new HSE travel guidelines, was obliged to restrict her movements for two weeks.
What had her in London was the Olympic qualifying tournament which ended up being suspended after just three days of boxing.
Her round of 16 defeat to third seed Italian Angela Carini on Sunday, March 15 was part of the last session open to the public, with the final day of boxing at the Copper Box Arena taking place behind closed doors.
Having taken a break from training during her first week back in Cill na Martra, she’s been hammering away at the punch bag in the shed the last couple of days.
But even though the Irish welterweight champion still has one remaining tournament at which Olympic qualification can be achieved (the date for which has not yet been fixed), boxing and next year’s Tokyo Games are not her priority right now.
“I have been itching to get back to work since I landed. I want to get back and give a hand in whatever way I can. I want to be one of the frontliners,” says Desmond.
Any bit of help I can give, I’ll gladly give it. I haven’t been able to do that thus far. I am one of the lucky ones that I can help.
It is in Dungarvan, where a teenager was arrested last week for coughing at a Garda, where Desmond is stationed.
There have been similar incidences around the country of late where Gardaí, healthcare workers, and retail employees have allegedly been spat or coughed at.
“Coughing or spitting at anyone is never ever right, particularly at a time of a global pandemic. It is not a nice situation to be in, especially as these people have families to go home to.
“Hopefully, those were just a few instances in isolation and, hopefully, we won’t see anything like it again because it is not nice.
“Anyone can contract the coronavirus. We all have to stick together, work together, and pull in the one direction. Hopefully people understand, and I think they do, that we are there for their best interests and to do our bit in helping to protect people.”
She expects that much of her work over the coming weeks — when not in the station — will entail making house calls to those who need assistance and ensuring compliance with the suite of restrictive measures announced by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar last Friday, particularly non-essential movement beyond two kilometres from a person’s home.
It will be a bit different to normal policing. I will probably be doing a lot of patrol work, just making sure there is good compliance. We are not there to scare or wrong anyone, it is just making sure the guidelines are followed because if we can all work together, it’ll be a faster and easier process in terms of getting out the far side of this.
“Once we have our health, we will be able to do sports, or whatever, for the rest of our lives.”
To that end, Desmond is adamant the London qualifying tournament should never have gone ahead.
“I don’t think it should have been run. We shouldn’t have even been sent to London. There was too much of a high risk, in my opinion.
“It was very hard to fight. The coronavirus epidemic was spreading. Our government was saying, get home now. We were seeing all this on social media while, at the same time, trying to prepare for a fight. I was focused on my fight, but I didn’t pull off the performance I wanted.
“We are two weeks back now so we are out of the danger zone, but if one of us did get Covid-19, you’d hate to think you were bringing it back unknowingly, and then the people you might pass it onto.
“I will get another chance at making the Olympics if I get picked for the World qualifiers in Paris. If I qualify there, I’ll be a very happy girl. For the time being, I’ll do the bare minimum. I’ll keep my fitness up and the weight down.
“You’ll be able to get back into it then once all this is over.
“At the end of the day, there are more important things in life. The coronavirus has put everything into perspective.”
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