Ireland boxing coach John Conlan has said Michael O'Reilly's failed drug test and ultimate expulsion from the Olympic Games has embarrassed his team and has brought a "terrible thing" to Irish boxing.
Shamed middleweight O'Reilly tested positive for a banned substance in the build-up to the Rio Games and was sent home after the Portlaoise Boxing Club fighter admitted that he unintentionally took a supplement that may have contained a prohibited substance.
The spotlight remained on the Ireland boxing team, and this Olympic campaign has proved difficult for the entire team with five boxers getting eliminated in the early stages of the competition.
Michael Conlan restored some pride for the team in Rio on Sunday with a comprehensive victory over Armenia's Aram Avagyan and after the fight, coach Conlan, father of the victorious boxer, admitted that it had been a tough two weeks for the team and for Irish boxing in general.
"There is no getting away from it. It has embarrassed us as a team," admitted John Conlan, speaking to RTÉ Sport's Adrian Eames.
"He embarrassed Irish boxing and brought a terrible thing to Irish boxing. We are very strict on anti-doping. We bring them [the boxers] to seminars and educate them constantly. We have zero tolerance. We were always ahead of everyone else."
And the Irish boxing coach tried to distance the remaining fighters from the disgraced 23-year-old, explaining that the Clonmel-born fighter "didn’t train with us".
"Michael O’Reilly hadn’t been with us for eight weeks," added Conlan. "We met him at the airport. And it was a big big shock to the team."
And while Conlan would not blame the O'Reilly saga for the below-par performances inside the ring in the opening week in Rio, he felt that the last two weeks had put huge pressure on Michael Conlan ahead of today's fight.
"This has been a very, very difficult week, possibly nearly two weeks for Irish boxing. We had that whole scandal that shocked us as a team. We sat down and we talked it out and we focused on the reasons why we were here.
"The boys got off to a great start and then we had those split decisions, which we felt could have went their way. A couple of warnings and a standing count that wasn't a count.
"And that has an effect on everybody. And Michael too was sitting watching that every day as he came to support his comrades.
"Michael really wants this gold medal and he came through all that pressure and he put in a very strong performance."
Conlan and the entire team's reputation have been tarnished by the O'Reilly scandal but the Irish coach said that while he was totally shocked by the entire situation, he has been happy with the support that they have received from Dublin and from within the Olympic Village.
"I was sitting there smug in my own house watching the Russians, wondering would they or would they not get here because of the doping.
"AIBA (International Boxing Association) are feeling it too. I think it is the first time that it has happened at a major event like this.
"Inside our own little unit as a team, we tried to just put a big wall around it. We had good support from Dublin, from the IABA (Irish Athletic Boxing Association), and the IOC (Irish Olympic Council) have been fantastic. But the boys here have been fantastic."
