{"id":723752,"date":"2026-08-02T02:41:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T02:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/723752\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T02:41:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T02:41:14","slug":"ill-never-say-never-michaela-walsh-doesnt-rule-out-fifth-commonwealth-games-as-kaci-rock-also-takes-home-silver-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/723752\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I\u2019ll never say never\u2019: Michaela Walsh doesn\u2019t rule out fifth Commonwealth Games as Kaci Rock also takes home silver \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

FOUR Commonwealth Games, four medals \u2013 and Michaela Walsh hasn\u2019t ruled out being back in the hunt in Ahmedabad in 2030.<\/p>\n

The west Belfast woman\u2019s bid for a second straight gold medal came to an end when she lost out to India\u2019s Jaismine Lamboria in the featherweight final on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n

It was a cagey encounter against a much taller, southpaw opponent, and twice within the opening minute the referee brought the pair together and instructed them to box. Walsh had to try and force the issue, attempting to seize any opportunity to get inside the long Lamboria jab.<\/p>\n

And she did so on occasion, but not enough to sway the judges, who all favoured the work of the reigning world champion in a fight of very fine margins.<\/p>\n

\"PFL<\/a>\"Ospreys<\/a>\"MichaelaMichaela Walsh now has four Commonwealth Games medals – one gold and three silver. PICTURE: PA <\/p>\n

Having first competed in Glasgow 2014, the 33-year-old now has one gold and three silvers in an impressive collection. And while qualifying for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 are the immediate priority, don\u2019t be surprised if Walsh is on the plane to India in four years time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll never say never,\u201d she smiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually didn\u2019t think I was going to come to these, and I\u2019ve already had such a busy year, so I didn\u2019t know whether the Commonwealths was on the cards or not. I\u2019ve got the Europeans on six weeks, but I\u2019m so happy I did go for them. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just really happy with how I performed during the competition, I\u2019m really enjoying my boxing at the minute. Even if I came here and didn\u2019t win a medal, I\u2019m proud no matter what. <\/p>\n

\u201cGetting a medal is a bonus – I\u2019d be lying if I said I didn\u2019t want gold, who doesn\u2019t want gold? And to stand on top of a podium. But I feel like today I gave the best version of myself today, and that\u2019s all I can ask for. <\/p>\n

\u201cI still feel like I had the tactics right and just, unfortunately for me, the judges gave it her way today.\u201d<\/p>\n

A third Olympic Games, though, is the dream \u2013 and Walsh is determined to earn another chance to emulate younger brother Aidan, who brought home bronze from Tokyo 202.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Olympics is definitely on the cards – Aidan has bragging rights over me with an Olympic medal, so I have to get one back on him. <\/p>\n

\u201cAn Olympic medal has always been my dream and if I get it, I get it, if I don\u2019t, I don\u2019t. But you know me by now, you know I won\u2019t give up – I\u2019ll do everything I can to be standing on the podium in LA.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CommonwealthCommonwealth Games silver medallist Kaci Rock alongside champion Sacha Hickey and bronze medallists Elizabet Eve Bryson of Australia and Caitlin Rainey of Scotland. PICTURE: PA (Steve Welsh\/PA) <\/p>\n

Kaci Rock, too, came up short against a taller southpaw \u2013 this time England\u2019s Sacha Hickey claiming the welterweight title on a unanimous decision after another cagey encounter.<\/p>\n

It has been an impressive tournament for the 23-year-old, who was happy to prove a few people wrong by earning a spot on the podium.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s disappointing of course, but looking at it as a whole, it\u2019s something I never thought I would have done a couple of months ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever give up on yourself \u2013 a lot of people probably would have doubted whether I could medal even, coming into this competition, and I\u2019m a silver medallist. On the day there wasn\u2019t a huge lot in the fight, but I gave the best version of me and that\u2019s all I could have asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of myself, and I believe in myself \u2013 I\u2019ve always believed in myself, and so has my small circle around me. But there\u2019s still so much to push on for.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FOUR Commonwealth Games, four medals \u2013 and Michaela Walsh hasn\u2019t ruled out being back in the hunt in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":723753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,239094,204321,239157,239156,144251,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-723752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-commonwealth-games-2026","tag-commonwealth-games-2022","tag-glasgow-2026","tag-kaci-rock","tag-michaela-walsh","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=723752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/723753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=723752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=723752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=723752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}