The brilliant Offaly boxer who also played soccer for Ireland

A MULTI-talented sportswoman, Grainne Walsh has emerged as one of the best female boxers in Ireland.

Walsh has won national titles, boxed internationally for Ireland and remains fiercely ambitious about what she can achieve in the sport.

The daughter of a Killeigh father and Kilcavan mother, Grainne Walsh was initially a soccer player, par excellence who played for Shamrocks Rovers and also achieved international recognition for Ireland in her teens.

She only took up boxing as a means to keep fit in the soccer off season, joining the Spartacus Boxing Club Tullamore but it changed her sporting trajectory and her life. She was also inspired by meeting Katie Taylor at the opening of that boxing club gym in Tullamore and boxing appealed to her on a number of levels – while she loved playing soccer, she really liked the individuality of boxing and the fact that it was all down to her without being dependant on what any team mates were doing.

Walsh is a fiercely dedicated trainer. While an amateur, she lives the lifestyle of a professional athlete, both inside and outside the ring. It is a journey that has brought her into the realm of qualification for the Olympic Games and at 26 years of age, this remains a possibilty for her.

A welterweight, she has won bronze medals at the European Games and the EU Championships, as well as boxing in Olympic qualifiers. A hand injury damaged her chances of making the Tokyo Olympics last year and she is a regular international competitor for Ireland.

After first taking up boxing, Walsh tried to keep both that and soccer going for a couple of years. However, like many sports people before her, she soon discovered that it was impossible to commit to two sports at a high level and boxing was her choice.

Dmitry Dmitruk was a huge influence on her boxing career. He was a founder of the Spartacus Boxing Club in Tullamore, since going onto coach with the Irish high performance team. Walsh made huge progress under his guidance.

Classed as “world class” by Sport Ireland, she has received valuable grant support from them and no doubt, plenty of top class opponents will experience pain from her in the coming years.

She has had her share of injury problem. Walsh is just back from her third thumb surgery and she commented recently: “I am back sparring the last three weeks and feeling great. Having having two and a half years of injuries, I have a completely new mindset.”

The Tullamore woman is now in full training for the Golden Belt in Romania at the start of April. Her main aim this year is the World Championships in Turkey in May while she is dropping down a weight to the 66kg class.