Michaela Walsh

Having suffered the disappointment of final defeat in 2014 and 2018, it was a particularly sweet moment for Michaela, who knelt and kissed the canvas after defeating Nigerian Elizabeth Oshoba in the featherweight final.

Walsh said before the Games that she felt there was a part of her “missing” – at long last, that void has been filled.

Michaela Walsh was born into a real boxing family in Belfast on June 5, 1993. She began training at the age of 10, earlier than many of her teammates. Her father Damien was a boxer in the past and managed her daughter’s career in the famous Monkstown Boxing Club in Belfast. Walsh was only 15 when she received the right to represent Team Ireland internationally for the very first time, she competed at the 1st edition of the European Women’s Junior Boxing Championships in Yambol, Bulgaria, and claimed a silver medal.

Her younger brother, Aidan was also a silver medallist at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia and won the title in Birmingham. The Walsh family amazed the local crowd at the 22nd Commonwealth Games and after several silver medals, both are on the top of the podium.