The Portlaoise BC rolled out the red carpet for Rio 2016 Olympian Michael O’Reilly at a recent homecoming celebration for the AIBA World No. 2 ranked middleweight.
The current European Games champion and AIBA World Elite bronze medallist qualified for Rio in emphatic style at last month’s penultimate Olympic qualifiers in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Baku has proven to be a happy hunting ground for O’Reilly as he claimed a European Games gold medal in the Azeri capital in 2015.
The Irish Elite champion recorded five wins – one by way of walkover – inside a week to secure gold in June.
But the biggest prize – an Olympic ticket – was secured courtesy of finishing in the top four.
O’Reilly, Katie Taylor, Paddy Barnes, Brendan Irvine, Michael Conlan, David Oliver Joyce, Steven Donnelly and Joe Ward will represent Irish boxing in Rio next month.
The class of 2016 have broken the joint record of six qualified for Barcelona 1992 and London 2012 since the current qualification system was introduced for Barcelona.
See above newspaper article for homecoming pictures.