Punching above Their Weight by McGoldrick Sean;
Author:McGoldrick, Sean; [Sean McGoldrick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 4782446
Publisher: O'Brien Press, Limited, The
Published: 2015-08-15T00:00:00+00:00
Chapter 12
Bonanza in Beijing
âNaturally, I counted the scores, and I won it by two or three points. But, look, I hold no grudges against Zhang. If I was offered any medal at the start of the game, I would have taken it with both hands.â
Kenny Egan
The Beijing Workersâ Gymnasium, originally built in 1961 for the World Table Tennis Championships, hosted the boxing programme at the 2008 Olympics. Kenny Egan was in action in the first session. Although it is slightly more than 8,000 kilometres from his native Neilstown to downtown Beijing, Egan wasnât short of support. Chants of âKenny! Kenny! Kenny!â resonated around the arena that Saturday afternoon as he pummelled his opponent from the Virgin Islands, Julius Jackson, 22-2: the same boxer he had stopped at the World Championships in Chicago. High up in the bleachers, Gary Keegan watched in stoic silence.
Egan was exuberant; he bounced into the mixed-zone afterwards where the boxers and coaches meet the media. And, in what turned out to be a prophetic comment, he told RTÃâs Marty Morrissey that he was the first Irishman in action and would be the last one out.
But it wasnât until twenty-year-old John Joe Joyce stepped into the ring the following morning that ringside observers got the first indication that this was a very special Irish team. Eganâs fight was as straightforward as one can reasonably expect at Olympic level. Joyceâs battle against his âbogeymanâ, the Hungarian boxer Gyula Káté, was the exact opposite.
The portrait of St Jude, the patron saint of lost causes, tattooed on Joyceâs right forearm seemed an appropriate portent for what might transpire. After all, the Hungarian had accumulated seventy-nine points against the St Michaelâs Athy boxer in their last three contests.
âSixty-four boxers in the Worlds and I drew him in the first round. This time when I drew him again, I was thinking, âThereâs something meant to be,ââ remarked Joyce to journalists in the mixed zone, after prevailing 9-5 against his nemesis in a tactical contest. âIâve drawn him so many times that I knew God was going to be on my side this time.â
Having celebrated his nineteenth birthday just nine weeks previously, John Joe Nevin was Irelandâs youngest male competitor in Beijing. âIt was hard on me because I was so young,â he recalled four years later in an interview in the Irish Independent on the eve of his first fight at the London Olympics.
Arguably, this uncertainty impacted on his performance because he never quite reached the heights he scaled at the qualifying tournament in Pescara. Nonetheless, he won his opening bout â beating African champion Abdelhalim Ouradi from Algeria 9-4, despite being docked two points in the first round of a scrappy contest.
The Irish were now on a roll. Egan underlined this growing confidence when he outclassed Bahram Muzaffer, the Turkish boxer who had received the late call-up, to win 10-2 and nail down a place in the last eight â one win away from a coveted medal. Just as the decision
Download
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.
Periodization Training for Sports by Tudor Bompa(7929)
Bodyweight Strength Training by Jay Cardiello(7680)
Therapeutic Modalities for Musculoskeletal Injuries, 4E by Craig R. Denegar & Ethan Saliba & Susan Saliba(7601)
Born to Run: by Christopher McDougall(6898)
Imperfect by Sanjay Manjrekar(5682)
Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi(5326)
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight(4899)
Paper Towns by Green John(4807)
The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson(4590)
The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy(4530)
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing(4513)
Bodyweight Strength Training Anatomy by Bret Contreras(4481)
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom(4411)
Yoga Anatomy by Kaminoff Leslie(4108)
The Sports Rules Book by Human Kinetics(4081)
Science and Development of Muscle Hypertrophy by Brad Schoenfeld(3974)
Dynamic Alignment Through Imagery by Eric Franklin(3925)
Exercise Technique Manual for Resistance Training by National Strength & Conditioning Association(3790)
Bodyweight Strength Training: 12 Weeks to Build Muscle and Burn Fat by Jay Cardiello(3784)
