Team Ireland returned home yesterday from Montenegro weighed down with a record number of medals from the European Women’s Boxing Championships.

The final tally came to three gold medals, two Silver, and three Bronze, as well as a fairly easy decision to award them the Best Team accolade.

In the two decades through which the Championships have been held for Women boxers, Ireland is now the fifth most successful of all time with 10 gold, these two silver and seven bronze medals in total.

The first gold of the week went to Kellie Harrington, who has now won a European gold (2022), silver (2017), and bronze (2018) and becomes the second boxer in Irish history, after Katie Taylor, with an Olympic, World, and European title.

She boxed her final against Czech Republic’s Lenka Bernardova and won every round, claiming her title, 5-0.

The second gold of the day went to 63kg Amy Broadhurst, similarly decisive against Ukraine’s Mariia Bova. Amy won European bronze at lightweight in 2019. This has been a spectacular year for her – she become World Champion in May, won Commonwealth gold in August, and a European title in October. Amy was also named boxer of the tournament.

Middleweight, Olympian Aoife O’Rourke, claimed her second European gold today, following her bout against Poland’s Elzbieta Wojcik.

Its also been a fantastic year for 22-year-old 50kg Caitlin Fryers; today, she contested her first international elite final against Turkey’s Naz Buse Cakiroglu. She comes home with silver, having had a very strong tournament.

And light middleweight, Christina Desmond, now has two European medals to her credit. She won bronze at middleweight in 2016, and now has a 70kg silver to her name, following her meeting with Armenia’s Ani Hovsepyan.

Shannon Sweeney and Michaela Walsh both came home with bronze but with the added notch of their semi-final winners having gone on to secure gold.

Most general sporting eyes will now focus on the Olympic Games in Paris and what this team might achieve. It is not yet the time to wail over the fact that because of political and governance issues that might be the final time that Boxing appears at the Games.

For now, though the team can bask in the glow of a tournament like never before.