Beijing 2008 finalist and ten-time Elite champion Ken Egan to feature on RTE Home School Hub Olympics

Olympic athletes will be helping children across the country get into the spirit of sports day next week as they switch their focus to the playground in the RTÉ Home School Hub Olympics. The focus of the popular home school programme from the 25-29 May will be on the Olympics and will feature Dare to Believe, the Olympic Federation of Ireland’s (OFI) schools activation programme, and will include interviews with five of the athlete ambassadors, as well as Olympic Silver Medallist Kenneth Egan.

This month has been a busy one for the programme, with over 200 schools taking part in the recently launched online sessions, which include virtual ambassador visits via Facebook Live every Thursday at 12 noon.

This week also saw the launch of the Dare to Design Competition which is a challenge where children are invited to design a medal, poster or Olympic stadium for Dublin 2040, imagining Ireland were to host the Games in the future. This engages a broad range of children, including those who may not be involved in sport. Details on how to enter the competition can be found HERE, the closing date is the 18 June, with the winners being announced on Olympic Day, 23 June 2020.

Dare to Believe is a five ring programme which focuses on the Olympic values, and has a wide ranging appeal to school children, whether they are interested in sport or not. Normally the ambassador visits to the classroom is the highlight of the programme for the students, and in light of the recent pandemic, these visits are being done online.

Team Ireland Hockey Olympian Shane O’Donoghue was the first of the ambassadors to present his story as part of the Facebook Live Ambassador Series, where he fielded questions from school children who dialled in from around the country, his video can be found HERE.  Next up is Thomas Barr who will be presenting at 12 noon on the 28 May

Next week RTÉ Home School Hub Olympics will feature interviews, activities and challenges with Olympians Thomas Barr, Shane O’Donoghue and Claire Lambe, World Champion Boxer Kellie Harrington, and Paralympian Greta Streimikyte. Athletes’ Commission Member and Olympic Silver Medallist in boxing Kenneth Egan will present some of his memorabilia and step in as referee for the big event.

Speaking about the recent activations, Peter Sherrard, CEO of the Olympic Federation of Ireland said,

“Our elite athletes have been a real credit to Team Ireland during the lockdown, helping the country through a very difficult period. The Dare to Believe programme is based on athletes going into schools to inspire the next generation so teaming up with RTÉ to reach a greater number of children has been invaluable.

“Across Europe, Olympic athletes have been able to return to training, so we understand the frustration that our athletes must be feeling at this time. We are working hard for a prioritised return for this small group who represent us so well internationally so that they can keep their Olympic hopes on track.”

For more info on the Dare to Believe programme visit the website www.daretobelieve.ie.

 

Kellie Harrington has been named Irish Times Sportswoman of the Month for April.

Click here.

The 2018 World Elite champion was part of the Irish team at the European Olympic qualifiers in March in London.

But the tournament was cancelled three days into the competition because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Harrington reached the European Games final last year but had to withdraw because of an arm injury.

The Dublin lightweight returned from the injury in January and won three fights en route to silver  at the Strandja multi-nations in Bulgaria.

 

IRISH TIMES SPORTSWOMAN OF THE MONTH

Previous monthly winners

(Awards run from December 2019 to November 2020, inclusive):

December: Fionnuala McCormack (Athletics)

January: Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal (Cycling)

February: Rachael Blackmore (Horse racing)

March: Diane Caldwell (Football)

April: Kellie Harrington (Boxing)

 

 

Image: 1939 European Championships at the National Stadium in Dublin.

The 6th edition of the Championships marked the official opening of the National Stadium, the first purpose-built boxing venue in the world, for international competition.

The tournament was the last European Championships before WW2.

Twelve nations – Belgium, England, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Scotland, and Sweden – and 71 athletes lined out at the home of Irish boxing in April 1939.

Jimmy Ingle, then just 17, won flyweight gold for the hosts and Paddy Dowdall secured the featherweight title for the Boys in Green.

Charles Evenden claimed bronze for Ireland at IABA headquarters after winning his third-place box-off with England’s Robert Thomas.

Scotland made its European debut in Dublin. Ireland has debuted at this level two years previously in Milan where Evenden, Ernie Smith,? Lydon, James Healy and, pictured below, Frank Kerr, father of ex Republic of Ireland boss Brian Kerr, lined out for Ireland.

Ireland, Italy, Poland and Germany were neck-in-neck in the medals table race in Dublin, but the Italians edged pole position courtesy of two gold. silver and bronze.

The Stadium was opened on March 1, 1939, by the Minister for Defence, Frank Aiken.

The Minister congratulated those “from every part of Ireland whose generosity, brains, skill and hard work had contributed to the completion of the building”.

Four juvenile bouts “christened the ring” at the “windowless arena”.

The venue contained the most up-to-date showering and changing facilities, together with the novelty of running water at ringside, as well as an electric light board which displayed the round numbers as the fights progressed, according to an excerpt from ‘The Little Book of Irish Boxing’ by Belfast author Barry Flynn.

The Stadium also hosted the first European Championships after WW2 in 1947.

1939 European Champions National Stadium Dublin

Flyweight (50.8kg): Jimmy Ingle, Ireland
Bantamweight (53.5kg): Ulderico Sergo, Italy
Featherweight (57.2kg): Paddy Dowdall, Ireland
Lightweight (61.2kg): Herbert Nürnberg, Germany
Welterweight (66.7kg): Antoni Kolczynski, Poland
Middleweight (72.6kg): Anton Raadik, Estonia
Light heavyweight (79.4kg): Luigi Musina, Italy
Heavyweight (+79.4kg): Olle Tandberg, Sweden

 

Medals Table (Gold, Silver, Bronze)

1 Italy (ITA) 2 1 1 (4)
2 Ireland (IRL) 2 0 1 (3)
3 Poland (POL) 1 3 1 (5)
4 Germany (GER) 1 1 2 (4)
5 Sweden (SWE) 1 1 1 (3)
6 Estonia (EST) 1 1 0 (2)
7 Hungary (HUN) 0 1 1 (2)
8 Belgium (BEL) 0 0 1 (1)

Totals (8 nations) 8 8 8 (24)

 

 

 

 

Former Elite champion Carl Frampton has cited Paddy Barnes and Michael Conlan as his favourite Irish male amateur boxers.

The “Jackal”, a two-time European medallist for Ireland, also lists Michael Carruth, Joe Ward, John Joe Nevin, Andy Lee and many more amongst his favourites.

“Over the last 30 years Irish amateur boxing has had some amazing moments, indeed some of the best ever in the history of the sport on this island, Frampton writes in Sunday Life.

I‘ve been fortunate to be part of the High-Performance set-up in Dublin which has transformed the success Irish boxers have had on the international stage over the past 15 years. It has been tricky, harder than listing my top 10 Irish professionals, but here goes for my top 10 Irish male amateur boxers for the past 30 years.

Click here for the article.

 

(Image: Frampton, centre, Ken Egan, Darren Sutherland, Roy Sheahan and Cathal McMonagle show off their medals from the 2007 EU Championships at the National Stadium)