Celebrating Olympic Day | This year’s theme is “Let’s Move” – so grab your wraps and gloves, and find your nearest boxing club here
Olympic Day is an annual global celebration of sport that promotes healthy and active lifestyles. Taking place on June 23rd, it commemorates the founding of the International Olympic Committee in 1894 and the start of the modern Olympic Games.
Boxing is Ireland’s most successful Olympic Sport. At Paris 2024, we celebrated 100 years of Olympic participation and Kellie Harrington’s historic second lightweight gold.
A Century of Olympic Excellence
For a century, boxing has been at the heart of Ireland’s Olympic story. Since Irish athletes first competed under the Irish flag in 1924, the sport has consistently produced Olympic champions, medal winners and moments that have inspired the nation.
From John McNally winning Ireland’s first Olympic boxing medal in Helsinki in 1952, to Michael Carruth’s historic gold in Barcelona in 1992, Irish boxing has built a proud legacy on the world’s biggest sporting stage.
The London 2012 Olympic Games marked another milestone, with Katie Taylor winning Ireland’s first women’s Olympic boxing gold, alongside medals for John Joe Nevin, Kenneth Egan, Paddy Barnes and Michael Conlan. At Tokyo 2020, Kellie Harrington claimed lightweight gold and Aidan Walsh won bronze, before Kellie successfully defended her title at Paris 2024 to achieve one of the greatest feats in Irish Olympic history.
More Than Medals
Behind every Olympic medal is a local boxing club.
Across Ireland, Boxing Ireland clubs help people of all ages develop fitness, confidence, discipline and lifelong friendships. The success of Irish boxing is built on the dedication of volunteer coaches, officials, families and communities who nurture athletes from grassroots level to the Olympic stage.
Olympic Day is the perfect opportunity to discover everything boxing has to offer.
Whether you want to compete, improve your fitness or simply try something new, there’s a place for everyone in Irish boxing. So embrace this year’s theme of “Let’s Move”—find your local Boxing Ireland club, step through the doors and become part of Ireland’s most successful Olympic sport.