Irish boxers bid to turn Olympic dreams to reality

Five Ireland boxers look to move within one step of earning a spot at the Tokyo Olympics when the European Olympic qualifying tournament restarts on Friday

One of Ireland’s top medal hopes, Kellie Harrington, the 2018 world gold medal-winner, boxes Aneta Rygielska, of Poland, an opponent she has beaten twice in the past 18 months. Picture: INPHO/Aleksandar Djorovic

Five Ireland boxers look to move within one step of earning a spot at the Tokyo Olympics when the European Olympic qualifying tournament restarts in a suburb of Paris Friday afternoon after a 15-month delay.

It has been 445 days since this tournament was suspended in London due to the coronavirus pandemic after three days of action and the reduced qualifying format means that defeat Friday will mean the end of their Olympic dream. Of the nine members of the Ireland team that arrived in the small town of Villebon-sur-Yvette this week, one, Brendan Irvine, has already booked their place and one, George Bates, the lightweight from Tallaght, needs only one win to be on the plane for Tokyo. That chance will come for Bates when he faces Azebaijan’s Javid Chalabiyev Saturday afternoon.