The AH Tokyo 2020 Olympics/Paralympics Thread in 2021

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117722488#Comment_117722488

Was class when they hugged as soon as the bell went and I think Kellie went straight to the Brazilian corner after too.

It was all very genuine which was the best thing

Mad_maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117722677#Comment_117722677

Brazil is a big country so plenty of idiots in abundance

AMKC

Awe I felt sorry for the Brazillian. I think she gave it her all and was the better boxer. Kelly kept giving the Brazilian hugs and kept moving back into the ropes and letting the Brazillian dominat and control the flow of the match. Kelly did get some nice punches in to the head alright but the Brazilian got some nice punches in too. Anyway well done Kelly Harrington but I stl think Katy Taylor is way better and if the two were to fight that Katie would win.

irishguitarlad

Great win by Kellie and I'm absolutely delighted for her. To think a few pages back on here some fúcking shítehawk was saying that we need to invest less in boxing, tool.

davetherave

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117721390#Comment_117721390

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117722417#Comment_117722417

65 medals, and as far as I can tell, four of them to people who were born outside England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland.

• British-Japanese skateboard who has British citizenship by way of her father.
• Two gymnasts born in Dublin, to parents of Azerbaijani origin, who were living in the UK
• A sprinter born in Anguilla, which as a British overseas territory, is not recognised by the Olympics Committee.

Unless you are judging a book by its cover and they can only represent Team GB if they look like Laura Muir, Chris Hoy, or Jessica Ennis and not Linford Christie or Dina Asher-Smith?

KaneToad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117722727#Comment_117722727

Most boxers go to the opposition corner before & after the fight result. Nothing that unusual for Harrington to do it.

Delighted that she won. She's a brilliant athlete and, from what I see of her on TV, she seems like a nice person too.

Didn't see the fight live. Went to the RTE player to see what that had. To say it was pi$$ poor would be an understatement. It was 2 mins of incoherent highlights that ended abruptly at the second the result was announced.

Cosmo Kramer

I think I actually preferred today's win to Taylor's one. I'm not saying Harrington would beat Taylor in a fight but Taylor was a poster girl for the first women's boxing outing at the Olympics and was always expected to win gold, whereas while Harrington was always expected to win a medal this feels like a bit of a bonus gold as she was definitely the underdog going in to that fight, albeit she was the first seed in the division.

Probably our first "upset" gold since Carruth in 1992 as Taylor, the rowers and even Smith were all heavily fancied going into their various Olympic games.

Probably a decent chance Harrington will turn pro now - I'm not a huge pro boxing fan but a Taylor v Harrington fight would potentially be a big earner for all involved.

The good news is that Amy Broadhurst is waiting in the wings to take over from Harrington at this weight if she doesn't stay on for Paris.

Morris Garren

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117722830#Comment_117722830

'Smith' !!! Heavily Fancied.. ? A bit of revisionism there perhaps. I wonder how she is feeling today actually

appledrop

Absolutely amazing performance by Kellie absolutely delighted for her + inner city Dublin.

Hopefully she will inspire the kids in her community to stick with sport.

I'm personally not a big fan of boxing but we have had huge success in this area over various years and it's about time they really pumped money into this area.

Some of the boxing training centres are still in old freezing buildings. It's also a sport that a lot of tougher kids are drawn to + it can keep them on straight and narrow so it has benefits from a youth justice point of view aswell.

Well done Kellie, up the dubs!

Cosmo Kramer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117722834#Comment_117722834

Maybe forgetfulness more than revisionism but my recollection was that, off the back of the 1995 European Championships, she went into Atlanta as a big favourite in at least two of her events, albeit suspicions were already being raised about the extent of her improvements since the previous Olympics.

Gary Scrod

Great to see the US beat China for most gold medals and most medals. Those Mao supporters should have been disqualified.

CrabRevolution

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117722871#Comment_117722871

If you think boxing and criminality can't be combined, Daniel Kinahan would like a word!

jojofizzio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117722834#Comment_117722834

I wonder if she’ll put out another statement to tell us all how she feels about her achievements 25 years ago…..coz it’s what we all want to hear….

Jimi H

Fantastic from Kellie. What an inspiration.

Overall what do people think of our performance?

fryup

haven't seen the fight or any of the coverage yet

but please tell me there was no "Olé, Olé, Olé"... if one thing grates my gears is hearing irish sport fans chanting that😬

Richard Hillman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117722982#Comment_117722982

Considering we've only won 2 gold's since the last Tokyo Olympics, a big improvement. But 2 gold's, 2 bronze should be what we are accustomed to. We are generally poor in the Olympics, hopefully this is the new standard.

Montage of Feck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117722982#Comment_117722982

We are falling behind in athletics, but hey we are 39 in the medals table which isn't bad for a country our size.

KaneToad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117722982#Comment_117722982

We had a very big team but very few of them were ever going to be competitive. We don't invest enough in sport. We're content to be the plucky underachievers.

I think all the athletes are honest and try their best. But, when we consistently have competitors who can't surpass/match their personal bests, there is something wrong. I think it's the funding, they don't have the financial freedom to totally commit to the sport for the 4 yr cycle.

hahashake

If there was an award for mental gymnastics then Ireland would surely medal based on some of the posters in this thread.

appledrop

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117722898#Comment_117722898

Ah you know what I mean, it does stop some kids going down that road because they have a purpose are training and keeping busy.

appledrop

I think we have done very well overall 2 golds, + 2 bronzes very good for a country of our size.

I don't know how money is allocated for Olympics but I wouldn't bother putting into athletics etc, focus on sports we can achieve in instead.

Take athletics + 400m hurdles I think it is. Thomas Barr scored personal best of 48 sec just missed the final.

The actual race was won in 45sec.

Now look Thomas very focused athletic and hard worker but if your 3 secs off the winner we just can't compete on world stage.

Richard Hillman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117722871#Comment_117722871

I agree with you but boxing is such a sketchy sport to invest in. Anyone that goes Pro seems to be heading the MTK/Kinahan way and boxing seems to be a sport that the IOC are willing to let go due to judging corruption (haven't heard of anything in this Olympics to be fair) and the fact that it's not really the elite form of the sport.

You also have the issue with boxing that they are always happy to share the success stories by of people turning their lives around with boxing but for every success there are more drop outs. Then you get guys who are trained boxers back on the streets, honing their skills outside Abrakababra on a Saturday night.

The people involved in grassroots boxing are generally good people, credits to their community, trying to help people. But from my own experience in my area I have seen more people do boxing for a few months and drop it and then go around the neighborhood battering people with their newly found skills. There was the story last week of the man (former boxer) who battered his girlfriend to death.

Boxing is such a Catch 22 issue. You can increase funding. Get more people into boxing clubs. You'll have more success stories, you'll have more nightmare scenarios. The success stories may go pro and fight for the Kinahans. The IOC may drop boxing and it was all for nothing.

fryup

^^ it should be strictly amatuer for the olympics

Arghus

Very happy for her.

She's very likable.

appledrop

I know Richard, it's a hard one alright I'm not denying it. However definitely case that these young people do drop out of GAA, Soccer often in teens so boxing one area that came keep them going.

I wouldn't go near pro boxing or that MMA or whatever its called, but more was thinking ametaur level.

I think of Bernard Dunne + Eric Donovan as great examples of positive role models for young men.

fryup

^^^^^ and Andy Lee, a gent

appledrop

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117723093#Comment_117723093

Is he the one that wrote a very inspiring book about his life?

appledrop

https://m.independent.ie/news/kellie-harringtons-first-boxing-club-only-has-one-toilet-despite-repeated-pleas-for-funding-and-its-for-males-40730211.html

Hope this works great article about lack of funding in her 1st boxing club.

Cosmo Kramer

Overall, once the final tally includes two gold medals, it can't be considered anything other than a successful Olympics. Taking into account both our previous performances and what a country of our population would be expected to achieve, two golds is well above average on both counts. Particularly as we have never previously won golds in two separate sports before these games.

In terms of overall medals, although again well above average compared to our history in the games and what would be expected for a country of 5 million people, we have maybe fallen slightly short of what we might have hoped for going in. Personally my own prediction had been five medals, but only one gold (the rowers).

I think we probably should have brought home at least one more medal relative to the strength of squad we sent - however winning the second gold more than makes up for it. With the next Olympics in Paris and only three years away, and with many competitors expected to return and others waiting in the wings, we should aim for an even better games in 2024.

We have won 15 medals now across the last four games - 3 in Beijing, 6 in London, 2 in Rio and 4 in Tokyo - so that shows consistency in performance across a number of games. It took us 13 Olympic games before that to win that many medals, longer again if you choose to discount the four swimming medals in Atlanta. It hasn't been a fluke either, as we have had plenty of bad luck also in these games. So we're definitely moving in the right direction, but there's still plenty of room for further improvement I think.

Edit - just as an add on, only four countries with a smaller population than Ireland finished above us on the medal table, one of which is Jamaica who will always beat us with their sprint team alone. That's really not bad going at all for us.

Norway with a similar population to Ireland but obviously with more money than Ireland and no "Ireland buying and selling property to each other" bubble burst debt got 2 golds (and a silver) in Track & Field Athletics which is amazing to be honest

Golds in the 400m hurdles men (World record) and 1500m men (Olympic Record)

(4 golds total)

Richard Hillman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117723162#Comment_117723162

Christy Burke has been a councillor for 36 years and a lord Mayor of Dublin. He's passing the buck here. He is as responsible as anyone else.

Gary Scrod

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117723059#Comment_117723059

What is your definition of 'amateur'? Would they be allowed personal sponsorship deals? Expected to have full time jobs?

Plenty of the athletics participants are 'professional' athletes. Usain Bolt was a professional athlete. Would you have allowed him to compete?

I agree that certain sports should not be included in the olympics, mainly if the sports have international tournaments that are considered more prestigious than the Olympics. Golf, Tennis and Football are obvious examples of that.

Basketball and Baseball for example don't have major international tournaments so I think they should be eligible with amateur or professional athletes.

Gary Scrod

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117723305#Comment_117723305

Surprised Christy Burke has an issue with unisex toilets. What has he against trans people?

normanoffside

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117722898#Comment_117722898

I've been following Kellie on Twitter for years, long before she was famous and she has been vocally against the Kinihans and their boxing stable. She has also been vocal against McGregor and his antics when needs be. I think she is a very sound role model and not afraid to call out what's right and wrong.

HeidiHeidi

Feck, did i miss the flag carrying??

Larbre34

A whole generation of grassroots amateur boxers and coaches have been betrayed by the criminal infiltration of low level Pro boxing in this Country by scum drug traffickers.

They have been further betrayed by the combined authorities of amateur and pro boxing failing to stand up to it and run it out.

As things stands, any of our Olympic boxers, like Kellie, who may see opportunities in the Pro ranks, have zero prospect of fighting in front of their home fans if they do so. That's a travesty and it needn't be.

martingriff

French anthem is more up tempo nice but not the same get up and go

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117723067#Comment_117723067

Kellie has a fantastic temperament too. Imagine delivering probably the best performance of your career in an Olympic final....she's clearly very strong mentally.

CrabRevolution

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117723400#Comment_117723400

For the avoidance of doubt, I wasn't making any accusations against Harrington or associating her with criminality. I was just commenting on the idea that pouring money into boxing will somehow reduce crime.

HeidiHeidi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117723483#Comment_117723483

And as the fella in the studio said this morning, if there were medals for giving interviews she should get the gold for that as well!

She's just incredible under pressure and emotion.

wanderer 22

Anywhere to watch the full fight? Can't find it on RTE player..

Joe_ Public

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117723494#Comment_117723494

I don't know can you produce numbers on it, but I would have no doubt personally that boxing has been an overwhelmingly positive influence in terms of offering young people a pathway out of potentially harmful or criminal futures. I'm not a big fan of pro boxing myself, there are definitely some bad people in it. Then again there are bad people in all walks of life, some of them in control of some of the biggest football clubs in the world, but people seem to be able to shrug that off easily enough.

The vast majority of boxing people and clubs in ireland are wholesome and passionate about their sport. At any stage over the last 10-15 years you could walk into the iaba high performance gym, or any club in Ireland for that matter, and watch divisions being broken down. Catholic/protestant, traveller/settler, black/white - no one cares, you're a fighter first and foremost and you're taught discipline and how to treat people with dignity and respect.

We're lucky with this sport here. It's given us most of our best modern Olympic moments and a whole array of brilliant role models any sport would die for. Boxing is going nowhere as an Olympic sport. I do hope Kellie decides to stay on for Paris, fact it's only 3 years away might help, and it would be nice to see a couple of more good kids coming through. The future looks bright.

Montage of Feck

Feck, the Olympic withdrawl symptoms are coming on now.

nocoverart

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117723581#Comment_117723581

Don’t worry, the Winter Olympics are only Six months away.

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117723581#Comment_117723581

But the first time ever we'll only have a three year wait for the next Games. And the next one will practically be on our doorstep, so we can expect huge Irish support for the athletes.

FrKurtFahrt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117723236#Comment_117723236

Bob Tisdell, 400 hurdles, and Pat O'Callaghan, hammer, 1932. I'm not trying to be petty - but very different sports, and both won gold.

ArmaniJeanss

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117723331#Comment_117723331

Golf, Tennis and to a lesser extent Football make money though for the IOC though - as in the broadcasters/sponsors will pay more for the Olympics with Djokovic, Osaka, top American/Asian golfers etc. Neymar, Messi, Beckham at previous football Olympics were huge draws (lack of big names this time)

Now some would say that such money shouldn't be a factor, but it's worth remembering that the profit those events make allows non-profit events to take place - i.e., the golf/tennis/football indirectly pays for the BMX track, the slalom canoe river, the martial sports arena etc.

alchemist33

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117723666#Comment_117723666

Yep, planning to go already, or to the Euros which will be in Germany, an easy country to negotiate.

I was lucky enough to get tickets in the lottery for Katie's final in London 2012 so fingers crossed for something similar again

martingriff

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117723608#Comment_117723608

And the Para olympics are 2 weeks away

Joe_ Public

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117723712#Comment_117723712

Fair points. The vastly reduced coverage on bbc and rte was very frustrating, but that's the commercial reality of selling the rights to one mega corporation. By all moral right, the whole of the Olympics should be free to air, but as we're all living in the real world, that was never going to last.