‘What will be will be’ as Aoife primed for Paris
Aoife O'Rourke is getting ready compete at her second Olympic Games when the action gets underway in Paris later this week. Picture: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Dare we dream?
When the Olympic Games in Paris begin to occupy the minds of people around the globe this week, County Roscommon will feel very much part of the action for the second Olympiad in succession.
From Willie Watt — the county’s first Olympian in 1908 — to Aoife O’Rourke who harbours genuine hopes of Roscommon’s first Olympic medal, the Games have always resonated with those of a Primrose and Blue persuasion.
The 27-year-old from Tarmon, Castlerea, spent time with her family last week before flying out to the French capital for what could be the biggest two weeks of her lives.
O’Rourke is unbeaten in over two years — not since she was knocked out of the World Championships in May 2022, a competition where her sister Lisa unexpectedly stole the headlines by becoming world champion.
Injury has curtailed Lisa’s involvement since then, but there will be no bigger fan when Aoife steps into the ring, scheduled for July 31st (unless she receives a bye) in the 75kg division. She will be one of the seeded boxers — in other words, she has a chance of a medal.
But whether Aoife strikes gold, silver and bronze in Paris is largely irrelevant to those closest to her. She’ll still return to Castlerea, grounded and appreciative of how a sport where she described herself as “terrible at first” has transformed her from a quiet, unassuming girl into one of the most well-known female boxers on the planet.
“When I’m back home, you’re well grounded. You’re told to bring in the bucket of turf of whatever has to be done. The boxing takes a back seat,” she laughed.
Ahead of her short return home to Castlerea last week, the planning continued as O’Rourke and the rest of the Irish boxing team continued their preparations with a training camp in Germany.
“We had a great camp with teams from India, the Philippines, Germany, France and a few more countries. We got great sparring in training with them. So we’re all excited now and are looking forward to the coming weeks.
“The last few training sessions leading into the games are a lot shorter, sharper. You’re not training all day long. It’s down to the finer details at this stage,” she acknowledged.
In 2021, in front of an empty arena, O’Rourke’s maiden Olympic adventure was short-lived when she was knocked out by eventual silver medalist, Qian Li from China. But O’Rourke gave a very credible account of herself, winning many admirers for her brave performance against one of the most experienced boxers in the competition.
Since then she has won the European Games, which stamped her passport to Paris, and retained her European title. In most seasoned observers’ eyes, she’s a threat at this Olympic games.
“As a boxer and an athlete, I’ve developed an awful lot. I’ve a lot more skill and better management in the ring. I’ve learned more how to deal with different types of opponents. But I’ve always said that I’ll never know it all, so every day is still a learning day for me.
“No more than the rest of the team, we’ve all trained really hard for this. We’ve been training the last number of years for this. We’ve the work put in. What will be will be.
“I’m taking it one fight at a time, one round at a time, one minute at a time. Listen to the coaches in the corner, take on board their feedback in the middle of the rounds, adjust if I need to. It’s just a case of basically sticking to what I have been doing,” she explained.
At this stage, the hard work is done and Aoife is thrilled at the prospect of having her family in attendance at the North Paris Arena when she hits the ring next week.
“My family have booked tickets to come out and see me. It will be really exciting to have them there. All their support and all the support from the people of Castlerea and Roscommon in general, it has been amazing and I’m really grateful to everyone,” she highlighted.
“The first few days are really exciting once you hit the Olympic Village. But you go off into your own bubble. We’ll keep to ourselves but we’ll definitely interact with other members of Team Ireland. There are loads of familiar faces across other sports. That’s good, just to see them and note how they go about their day,” she concluded.
Or maybe the focus will shift to see how Aoife O’Rourke goes about her day. Those closest to her know that she could be on the cusp of something special. As they touch down in Paris this week, they’ll also know that the people of County Roscommon have their backs.
