Securing Olympic qualification was like reaching the top of the mountain

“I WOULDN’T be where I am today without my boxing club.” So says boxer Kenny Egan, silver medalist at the Beijing Olympics about his local boxing club, Neilstown, reports Stephen Farrell.

“Ah my club, I never moved anywhere else even though I had lots of offers over the years, I’ve been there since I was eight years old,” said Kenneth.

“We trained in the school hall of Peter the Apostle [National School].

“Each night we put up the bags and the ring and then after training we had to take them down again to have the hall ready for school the next day,” said Kenny.

The club, which recently celebrated its 45th anniversary, have a more permanent home now in Neilstown.

“After the Beijing Olympics the club got funding, we have our own home now,” said Egan.

The club helped Kenny to bring him out of his shell as a youngster.

“I made great acquaintances, there were great coaches, it provided a healthy place to be,” said Kenny.

The club has also had an indelible effect on Neilstown and its surrounds, according to Kenny.

Although the Beijing Olympics took place 16 years ago, Kenny can still remember it vividly and the road he had to take to get there.

“It feels like a lifetime ago.

“I had suffered the heartache of not qualifying for Athens four years previously, however I decided to sacrifice the following four years to qualify for Beijing,” said Kenny.

In many ways securing qualification for Beijing was like reaching the top of the mountain for Kenny.

“When I qualified for Beijing, beating the German in Athens, Greece on April 12, 2008, I just dropped to my knees, the pressure I had put on myself to qualify,” said Kenny.

With qualification secured he turned his sights towards Beijing.

Without being arrogant in any way, he adds matter of factly, “I was just going to Beijing to collect the medal”.

There was a wonderful atmosphere in Neilstown in the lead up to the Beijing Olympics.

“My neighbours were delighted, they had seen me come back from competitions without a medal, the owner of Boomers [a local pub in Clondalkin], Rory, and his sons Paul and Rory Junior, set up a group page and my Dad and my brother travelled with them as a group to Beijing,” said Kenny.

Preparation was key to the success Kenny and the other Irish boxers had in Beijing, as they arrived in Beijing early for the Olympics and left some of their baggage there before going to Vladivostok, Russia for a two-week training camp.

While Kenny felt sorry for “a long while after” that he did not win gold he has come to realise what a remarkable achievement it was.

Turning towards the Olympics this summer in Paris, Kenny Kenneth Egan won silver at Beijing Olympics feels that, with ten boxers qualified, the Irish team have “a great chance” of winning medals.

However, with the draw still to be made for the boxing competitions he is reluctant to make any hard and fast predictions.

“The draw will be made on July 26, the draw is very important, a world champion can be beaten in their first fight,” said Kenny.

However he feels that Kellie Harrington, Grainne Walsh, Aidan Walsh, Jude Gallagher and Jack Marley have a good chance of securing medals.

“Performing on the day is the most important thing,” added Kenny.