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When Lisa O’Rourke steps into the ring on the World Boxing Championships in Liverpool subsequent month, she gained’t simply be representing Eire – she’ll be sharing the journey together with her older sister Aoife O’Rourke.
The Roscommon siblings, each now mainstays of the Irish Excessive-Efficiency staff, have travelled a novel street into boxing collectively. O’Rourke admits neither of them had household ties to the game, however as soon as her older sister tried it, she quickly dragged her youthful sister alongside too.
“Boxing just isn’t within the household in any respect. Aoife was the primary one who went with all her buddies by means of college, principally for the health alongside soccer, and I believed she was mad. Everybody at dwelling thought she was mad doing it. We had been like ‘no, it’s not for you’. Then she did it for a 12 months and was like ‘include me, include me’ and finally I did – and the 2 of us haven’t appeared again since. She was proper all alongside and we like it now,” Lisa informed Irish-boxing.com.
Now, the adorned pair will compete aspect by aspect on the first ever World Championships the place the boys’s and ladies’s tournaments are mixed. The Roscommon footballer believes the shared expertise will make this version much more significant.
“For us in Eire, we prepare collectively so all of us get on as a staff, which is nice. To go and be there for one another and help one another by means of the competitors we’re all coaching for goes to be particular this time round, I feel.”
O’Rourke, a world champion herself, can also be buoyed by how preparations have gone heading into Liverpool. She says Eire’s last coaching camp has offered the proper tune-up.
“Preparation’s going good and everybody’s been working actually onerous and leaving no stone unturned. Having this camp just a few days out to sharpen up the instruments and get all that worldwide sparring in earlier than the competitors is basically, actually good.”
One other bonus for the 22-year-old, who gained silver together with her sister at World degree earlier than, is the match’s location, simply throughout the Irish Sea. Whereas she gained’t stress household and buddies to journey, she admits the considered listening to acquainted voices from the stands provides to her pleasure.
“I undoubtedly gained’t put any stress on anybody to return out, however it’ll be an additional bonus to listen to some acquainted voices within the crowd. If they arrive, nice. But when not, they’re at all times there supporting me whether or not they’re close to or far – so we’ll be grateful both approach.”
For Lisa, sharing the world stage with Aoife as soon as once more underlines simply how far each sisters have come since these first tentative steps right into a Roscommon boxing gymnasium. In Liverpool, they’ll look to make extra historical past collectively.
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