5 Boxers, 3 Medals for Ireland

As I referenced before in a Diversions series post, of the 16 athletes that the Irish sent to Beijing, five of them are boxers. Well, of the five boxers, three will land back at Shannon Airport in Dublin with Olympic medals.

Tom Humphries, writing in the Irish Times, lauds the achievement of Darren Sutherland, the latest to join the fraternity of pugilistic podium perchers.

My favourite lines from the article:

"Only by an act of God, or a miracle of pharmacy, could an Irish athlete outshine the boxers this time."

and:

"I don't want to get emotional," he said, emotionally. "But four years . . . of hard, hard work has paid off. To come back from that injury and to be standing before you . . . an Olympic medallist, it's amazing." [emphasis mine]

Sutherland joins team mates Paddy Barnes (Belfast) and Kenny Egan (Dublin) in the winners' circle, establishing Ireland's best showing since Melbourne in 1956.