Jon McConnell Aims for European Championship Success Following Commonwealth Gold

Jon McConnell watched Kate O'Connor turn one golden summer into two and decided he wanted that feeling for himself.

O'Connor, the heptathlon star, stood on top of the Commonwealth Games podium in July, then carried that form straight into European glory in Birmingham weeks later. McConnell, who struck Commonwealth gold of his own in Glasgow at 70kg, has been studying that blueprint closely.

Now the 23-year-old from Belfast heads to Sofia, Bulgaria, for the European Elite Championships with a clear idea in his mind: copy the double.

“She is a big inspiration, winning the Commonwealths, had a week off and was back over in Birmingham to win [European] gold – hopefully I can replicate that,” he told BBC Sport NI before flying out.

That week in Glasgow changed everything. McConnell didn’t just win a title; he delivered Team NI’s only boxing gold of the Games, a breakthrough moment that pushed him from promising talent into the spotlight. But he has no interest in treating it as a career peak.

“I'm on the right road. The Commonwealths was a goal for me since I was a kid. It's given me a taste for more and the only way to get that buzz is to go out and win major championships.”

Sofia is the next step. Los Angeles is the destination.

McConnell lines up as part of a 14-strong Team Ireland squad in Bulgaria, a group that has already had to adapt before the first bell. At women’s lightweight, Kellie McLoughlin comes in after two-time Olympic champion Kellie Harrington withdrew with a hand injury, a reminder of how quickly plans can change in an Olympic cycle.

The medals on offer this week matter. They always do. But there is another layer to this tournament. The field in Sofia will look very similar to the one that stands between these boxers and the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, with qualification beginning next year at the World Championships and European Games.

“It's going to be the same people you are boxing,” McConnell pointed out.

That familiarity sharpens his focus. He talks about stripping it all back – one fight at a time, one round at a time – yet his gaze is already fixed on the highest step.

“I take one fight and round at a time, but there is no reason why I can't be top of the podium as LA is my main goal.

“I'm national elite champion two years in a row, so if I can make that three in January, I should go to the qualifiers next year, but these European Championships I want to put a marker down.”

A marker for himself. A marker for Ireland’s men.

Women leading the way – can the men follow?

Ireland’s recent record at European level tells its own story. At the 2024 Championships in Serbia, the team came home with two golds and two bronzes – every one of them won by women.

• Shannon Sweeney took 50kg gold there and now operates at 48kg.
• Aoife O’Rourke claimed the 75kg title.

Both are back in the current squad, standard-bearers for a women’s programme that continues to deliver.

The men have had their moments too, but not as frequently. In Yerevan two years earlier, Gabriel Dossen climbed to the top of the podium and Dylan Eagleson boxed his way to silver. Stretch the timeline to the World Championships and the gap becomes starker: it is nine years since an Irish man last medalled there.

Joe Ward’s silver and Michael Conlan’s historic world gold stand alone in that period. Big achievements, but lonely ones.

That is the landscape McConnell walks into. A women’s team stacked with recent champions, and a men’s side still searching for a new wave of serial medal-winners.

“About to tip over the edge”

Inside the Irish camp, though, there is little sense of doom. Interim head coach Damian Kennedy sees a group on the rise rather than one stuck in neutral.

He talks less about medal tallies and more about habits, depth, and how often his fighters now go deep into tournaments.

“Dean Clancy is going three fights deep into competitions on a regular basis, Jude Gallagher is going deep on a regular basis, Jack Marley is boxing the best I've ever seen him,” Kennedy said.

“Sometimes success is measured in medals but that's not always the case as I've seen the progression here.

“There are a number of athletes about to tip over the edge and when the floodgates open for the males, it will be amazing to watch.”

That is the challenge laid out in front of McConnell in Sofia. Not just to chase his own O'Connor-style double, but to help kick those floodgates open.

He has the Commonwealth gold, the national titles, the momentum. Now comes the harder part: proving that Glasgow was the start of something, not the high point, and that LA is more than just a dream on the horizon.