There was disappointment for boxer, Kurt Walker, who lost out in his quarter-final bout with USA’s Duke Ragan by the finest of margins, a 3-2 split decision after a pulsating contest.

Regan took the better of the opening round, dictating the pace throughout, but Walker regrouped well in the break and came back strong in the second to level proceedings going into the final round. An extremely closely-contested final round saw the two boxers evenly matched throughout, but Regan just pipped it in the end on a 3-2 split decision.

Bronze medal for Walsh

Walker’s boxing team mate Aidan Walsh withdrew from his semi-final of the Men’s Welterweight competition due to ankle injury sustained during his quarter-final bout.

He will still take home his bronze medal which he won in the quarter-final bout, becoming the sixteenth boxer to bring home a medal from the Olympic Games. The tally of Olympic boxing medals now stands at 17, more than 50% of the overall medals won by Team Ireland at Olympic Games.

Athletics

In athletics, there were fantastic performances from Eilish Flanagan and Michelle Finn in the Women’s 3000m Steeplechase heats, with Flanagan producing the run of a lifetime to shave an incredible six seconds off her Personal Best time, while Finn produced her fastest time at a major championships.

Flanagan produced the performance of a lifetime to run 9.34.86 to finish 12^th in her heat.

Speaking after her new lifetime best, Flanagan said:

“It really excites me for that to be my first performance on the world stage. It makes me believe a bit more that I belong there, so I’m looking forward to the next opportunity on a stage like that.”

Finn, going in the fastest of the heats, had to deal with a strung-out field, but put in an impressive last 800m to record her fastest time at a major championships – 9:36.

Thomas Barr ran the second fastest time of his career in the Semi-Finals of the Men’s 400m Hurdle, but failed to qualify for the final.

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