Olympian Aoife will always be our champion

As the Olympic Games draw to a close this weekend, the disappointment, and the confusion, still reigns.

How did Aoife O’Rourke lose a fight in the Olympic Games where her opponent stretched the rules to the point where they appeared unbreakable…in the eyes of the referee at least?

You’ve got to hand it to Elzbieta Wojcik. She had lost all her previous meetings against the Castlerea boxer. She had to bring something different to the table.

Her demeanour beforehand showcased a cockiness, but surely that would be dampened by Aoife’s ring-craft inside the ropes.

When Wojcik raced forward and landed a punch inside the opening seconds, the Polish boxer indicated that the fight would be played out on her terms.

And, unfortunately, that’s the way things panned out. Aoife’s favouritism for victory began to erode as Wojcik delved into every trick in the book to get the job done.

But the aftertaste was bitter. Wojcik’s first warning for holding in the opening round was deserved. How she didn’t receive a second one was anyone’s guess. In the end, with one judge having the score tied at the end of three rounds, it was the difference between winning and losing.

Yes, O’Rourke was far from her best and Wojcik’s tactics obviously rattled her. But the least the reigning European champion was entitled to was a strong referee that penalised Wojcik for turning the bout into what looked like a wrestling match at times.

Of course, we will be accused of dissecting Aoife’s defeat thorough “Primrose and Blue” glasses? She’s one of her own and we think the world of her. In our eyes, she will always be a champion.

For those who know a bit about the sport, however, they were right to suggest that it was an impossible fight to judge. Who was landing the cleaner punches as the chaos pervaded inside the North Paris Arena?

But the perception that the officiating inside the ring needed to be stronger was far more clearcut. It resurrected previous suspicions that have always existed about boxing, and the way the sport operates.

Michael Conlan, the outspoken Olympic bronze medallist who was denied a place in the semi-finals at the Rio Games in 2016 on the back of a bewildering outcome of his fight when he was clearly the better fighter, was quick to jump to O’Rourke’s defence. For him, it was a road well-travelled.

Former WBA super bantamweight world champion, Bernard Dunne, described the decision to award the fight to Wojcik as “disgraceful”, while BBC 5 Live Sport boxing analyst, Steve Bunce, opined that O’Rourke was a “comfortable winner”.

Less than 24 hours later, Daina Moorehouse was the victim of an even more scandalous verdict against local French favourite, Wassila Lkhadiri.

“If you have eyes, you know, every round was 5-0. But when I saw the first round was 3-2, I knew,” lamented head coach, Zaur Antia, afterwards.

And, yet for all the perceived injustices, O’Rourke’s human reaction to her defeat stirred our emotions even further, merely fuelling our disappointment for her. 

She could have thrown her toys out of the pram. But she remained dignified as her Olympic dream came tumbling down around her.

“It gets frustrating but there’s not a lot I can do. It is what it is.

I’m so disappointed that I’ve let myself and the coaches down. I gave it my best. That’s all I can ask of myself,” she told RTÉ.

“She’s a brilliant opponent. It’s not our first time to meet. I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy battle. Fair play to her and I hope she continues on in the competition.” The response of a class act.

That minute alone when she was put under the spotlight of the world’s media summed up Aoife O’Rourke.

This defeat will hurt for some time but when she returns to Castlerea, she’s still be revered as our champion.

When the dust settles on this crushing disappointment, hopefully that will be some comfort to her.