Olympics 24: Golden girls Kellie and Grainne ‘raring to go’ for Paris Olympics
Noel Burke, coach at St Mary’s boxing club in Tallaght, is a proud man as his club is about to send two boxers to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, reports Ken Doyle.
Noel, along with a team of coaches including Michael McDonald, Mel Leonard and Ciarán Bates, himself an Irish international boxer, laid the groundwork on which the success of Kellie, Gráinne and others was built.
“I started boxing in 1977 and I’ve been coaching here at St Mary’s since I was eighteen. My dad, Noel Sr and a man named Johnny Riordan were coaches when I was coming up and eventually it became clear that they needed a hand, so I did a coaching course with the IABA (Irish Amateur Boxing Association), passed that and I’ve been here ever since.”
Noel’s day job is as a development officer with the IABA where one of his colleagues is Barcelona 1992 hero, Michael Carruth.
Kellie comes from Portland Row in the city centre and unfortunately had to compete and win her gold medal inside an empty stadium in Tokyo. Paris promises to be a much improved experience for all the atheletes.
I ask Noel how the move to St Mary’s happened.
“Kellie was around twenty when I first saw her and she was sparring in a club in town. The girl she was sparring with was actually a French girl who had beaten Katie Taylor in a previous fight and Kellie was getting the better of her.”
“I could see straight away how good she was, she was a natural and had the basics absolutely down. It was Kellie who actually approached us about joining the club. Our set up was ideal for her and she soon became a valued member of St Mary’s.”
Kellie Harrington and Grainne Walsh are flying the flag for St Mary’s and Ireland at the Paris Olympics
“The important thing to remember about Kellie is that her boxing talent and her medal count pale into insignificance when compared to what an amazing human being she is,” Noel enthuses.
“She’s obviously a huge inspiration to all of our members but she always has time for everyone and she does so much good work for people that nobody would even know about. She’s one of a kind and has no airs or graces about her. What you see is what you get with Kellie, and from our point of view, she’s always been very easy to coach which is great.”
Noel speaks of Gráinne with equal affection and admiration. “Gráinne had been coached at Tullamore Boxing Club as a junior and was then under the supervision of Ireland high performance coach Dmitry Dmitruk. Dmitry then left to take up the position of head coach of the India national team so Gráinne asked to join us.”
“She’s a fabulous person and one of the strongest, most iron-willed people I’ve ever met. She’s had so many setbacks with injuries and some shocking judging decisions, but she keeps her cool and maintains her focus at all times. I’m delighted to say she’s now completely fit and raring to go in Paris.”
When he’s not training Olympic stars, Noel is a devoted family man with a (very understanding) wife Karen and three children at home.
He’s also tremendously dedicated to the well being of the youth in the Tallaght area. He tells me, “having talents like Kellie and Gráinne around is a huge bonus, but we remain very much a grass-roots community resource. We want to give our young people discipline and fitness. If they’re motivated by seeing the achievements of Kellie and Gráinne, so much the better.”
Noel hammers the point home by adding; “when you walk outside the door of our club, you find yourself at a place where you can buy any drug you want. We want to provide a facility where our young people want to turn towards us, rather than away from us and onto a destructive path. That’s St Mary’s ethos and it always will be.”
Olympics 24: Boxers Kellie and Grainne flying the flag for St Mary’s and Ireland
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