Bernard Dunne has called on the Irish Amateur Boxing Association to start their coaching succession plan for the future after Zaur Antia.
The IABA's lauded head coach has now had a hand in ten Olympic medals, after Kellie Harrington secured gold in the 60kg competition in Paris on Tuesday night.
The Georgian has been part of the Irish coaching team since moving to Ireland in 2003, and has been head coach since the departure of Billy Walsh in 2015.
Harrington’s second successive Olympic gold medal on Tuesday brought Ireland’s boxing involvement at Paris 2024 to a conclusion, prompting a discussion around the future of the sport between Dunne and Darren O’Neil, and 2008 medallist Kenneth Egan on RTÉ Sport’s coverage.
And Dunne believes the IABA’s top priority in the short term should be to allow coaches around the country tap into Antia’s experience.
"One huge thing we do need to see is other coaches getting exposure to Zaur Antia and actually downloading his brain," the former world champion said.
"I mean this. He should be a coach of coaches, and make the future for Ireland bright.
"He’s somebody that we can’t lose and countries will try poach him. We need to make sure he stays. He’s fundamental to everything in the future."
Antia turns 62 later this month, and Egan pointed out that while he still expects Antia to lead the Irish coaching team for several more years, it would be wise for the IABA to start planning now.
"He won't be around forever, so he needs to offload all his knowledge to other people," Egan said.
"He is ageing, we all get old, we all have to say 'enough is enough’ [someday]. Hopefully he won't be doing it for the next ten years but he is getting on a little bit more.
"He needs to offload all that knowledge to coaches he has at the moment, he has to keep doing that".
While Harrington’s gold medal capped off Ireland’s involvement in style, it had been a frustrating campaign overall for Team Ireland’s boxers in Paris.
Of the ten Irish boxers at the games, eight lost their opening fights with only Harrington and heavyweight Jack Marley winning a bout in Paris.
But Dunne believes there are still green shoots of positivity.
"Personally, for the team it has been [disappointing], but that just shows the expectation that’s placed on Irish boxing. That's a credit to the great coaching that’s gone on throughout the country.
"To qualify Jennifer Lehane for the Olympic Games, having just been in the sport for four of five years, what an achievement. That’s an incredible achievement, and that athlete should be so proud of herself.
"You look at Dean [Clancy], you look at Jude [Gallagher], Jack [Marley]...babies, absolute babies. Jack is 21-years-old and a heavyweight and competing at an Olympic Games. In four more years, he’s still not going to be at his peak."
And the former high performance director of the IABA has called on the association and Sport Ireland to maximise the growth of boxing, both at elite level and grassroots.
"The IABA and Sport Ireland and those around sport, we have a duty now to ringfence these athletes and try show them what the next four years can look like. Make sure we invest in them, make sure we put resources around them.
"You see where we invest in sport, the reward that not just the athlete gets, but the whole country gets, and how it makes everybody feel. That needs to go up another level, it really does.
"Sport changes communities, brings people together, it challenges health whether it’s physical and mental. You don't have to be an Olympic champion, but sport can make such an impact, especially in communities where kids can get into trouble.
"Sport teaches about discipline, about respect, about following a plan, working on your own, working as part of a team, all of these things come from sport. The more we encourage young people to get involved in sport, the brighter the future will be," he added.
Watch the 2024 Olympic Games with 14 hours of televised action on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player each day. Listen to extensive radio coverage on RTÉ Radio 1 and 2fm's Game On and follow each moment from Paris on RTÉ.ie, the RTÉ News app and all RTÉ digital platforms. Listen to the daily RTÉ Sport Olympics Podcast.
