Magic moment for Gráinne Walsh as she qualifies for Olympics
The road to the Olympics was never going to be smooth. And, for Gráinne Walsh, there were times when injuries, competition for places, and questionable scoring decisions made it so rocky as to appear impassable.
Through it all the 28-year-old Tullamore boxer persisted, and her class and dedication received the ultimate reward in Thailand this morning (Sunday) when she earned the right to call herself an Olympian.
With everything on the line against a difficult and heavy-hitting Armenian opponent, Ani Hovsepyan, Gráinne Walsh produced a brilliant display filled with grit and determination to deservedly win a unanimous points decision.
The result means she will be representing Ireland in Paris this summer in the 66kg weight division, becoming the eighth Irish boxer to qualify so far.
At the previous Olympic qualification tournament in March the Offaly woman suffered a controversial defeat in the decisive bout - and this morning's contest represented her final chance to qualify for Paris.
With her father, Gerry, sister Mairead, and brother Joseph in Bangkok to cheer her on, Walsh raced from her corner at the opening bell.
Hovsepyan had won by knockout in her previous bout, but that didn't deter Walsh from trading heavy punches with her opponent from the start, and as the round went on the Irish fighter began getting the better of their fierce exchanges.
The second round was another good one for Walsh, who received a boost when Hovsepyan had a point docked by the referee for holding.
Heading into the final round, Walsh was ahead on four of the five judges' cards, with the other judge scoring it level. And she closed it out strongly, landing some of her cleanest punches of the contest in the final minutes.
After all of the setbacks she has faced, the relief and jubilation on Walsh's face was evident as he dropped to her knees and screamed with joy when her hand was raised in victory.
Walsh's Olympic qualification came less than 12 hours after the Offaly Under-20 hurlers lifted the All Ireland title, making this one of the most memorable sporting weekends in recent history for the Faithful County.