Irish Elite Championships: Walsh and Harrington among winners at national finals
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Olympic champion Kellie Harrington and Michaela Walsh were among the winners at the Irish Championships in Dublin
Paris Olympics-bound Michaela Walsh and Kellie Harrington both won record breaking 11th Irish titles on finals night at the Elite Championships.
Two-time Olympian Walsh saw of the challenge of Kellie McLoughlin at 57kg with a 5-0 unanimous decision.
It was the same scoreline for the Tokyo Games lightweight champion Harrington as she defeated Zara Breslin.
Newtownstewart's Jude Gallagher was also among the winners as he beat Adam Hession in the featherweight final.
The 2024 championships were being held earlier than normal to give the high performance unit an opportunity to watch the contenders for selection for the first world Olympic qualification tournament in Italy at the end of February.
Five boxers - Walsh, Harrington, Aoife O'Rourke, Dean Clancy and Jack Marley - clinched their places for Paris at the European Games in Poland last June and while winning a national title doesn't guarantee Irish selection, it does go a long way.
Jude Gallagher followed up his semi-final victory over Dylan Eagleson by overcoming Galway's Adam Hession in the featherweight final
With that in mind Gallagher was especially impressive over the weekend.
The Commonwealth Games featherweight champion looks in superb form after beating Dylan Eagleson in the semi-finals on Friday and then backing that up by claiming the national title with a unanimous decision over Hession.
Gallagher lost out in the European Games but looks certain to get a second opportunity to qualify for his first Olympics in three months time.
As do Sean Mari, Daina Moorhouse, Jennifer Lehane, Dean Walsh and Kelyn Cassidy who all claimed national titles.
However the selectors will have an interesting decision to make in the women's 66kg division.
Grainne Walsh retained her title and after beating Amy Broadhurst in the 2023 Nationals, defeated Christina Desmond on Saturday night.
Former World champion Broadhurst missed out on qualification at the European Games, and due to injury didn't take part this weekend, with another world champion Lisa O'Rourke also an absentee.
Antia honoured
The selectors, led by head coach Zauri Antia, will have to carry out internal assessments to decide who will get the chance to qualify for the Olympics next summer.
Antia, meanwhile, was honoured by the Olympic Federation of Ireland with the President's Award at the Olympic Ball, held at the Mansion House in Dublin.
The accolade, which described Antia as the "mastermind behind Team Ireland's success in boxing" recognises significant contributions to Olympic sport in Ireland and was bestowed by OFI President, Sarah Keane.
Antia has overseen the IABA's High Performance Unit for over a decade and has coached nine Olympic medallists as well as over 140 medallists at major tournaments during his tenure.
