Jennifer Lehane

Jennifer "Jenny" Lehane (born 19 August 1998) is an Irish amateur boxer. She is the first female bantamweight boxer from her country to qualify for an Olympics Games having made it through to Paris 2024.

Jennifer Lehane
Born (1998-08-19) 19 August 1998[1]
Ashbourne, County Meath, Ireland[2]
Statistics
Weight(s)Bantamweight
Height160 cm (5 ft 3 in)[2]
StanceSouthpaw[2]

Biography

The fourth oldest of six children, Lehane competed internationally in taekwondo from the age of 15, going on to become European champion in 2018 and 2019.[3]

She took up boxing while studying primary school teaching at Dublin City University and, representing DCU Athletic Boxing Club, won the Irish National Elite Championships in 2021, after which she was asked to join the Irish Amateur Boxing Association High Performance Unit.[3][4]

Lehane made her international boxing debut for Ireland at the Nicolae Linca Golden Belt tournament in Romania in April 2022, taking home a bronze medal.[5]

Having achieved her degree, Lehane worked for a year in a primary school before putting teaching on hold to focus full-time on boxing.[3]

At the 2023 European Games in Poland she lost in the quarter-finals via split decision to eventual gold medalist Stanimira Petrova from Bulgaria.[4][6]

Lehane lost in her first contest at the World Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament 1 in Italy in March 2024, going down on a split decision against French boxer Romane Moulai.[4][7]

In May 2024, Lehane qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics at the World Olympic Qualification Tournament 2 in Thailand where she won three fights culminating in a unanimous decision victory over Hungary's Hanna Lakotar in the crucial contest that sealed her place in Paris.[8][9][10] She is the first Irish female bantamweight boxer to qualify for an Olympics.[4]

References
  1. "Jennifer Lehane". tapology.com. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  2. "Boxrec profile of Jenny Lehane". Boxrec.com. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  3. "'It's a scary thing leaving the job and pursuing this really big, big dream'". Meath Chronicle. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  4. "'You have to give your full whack' – Jenny Lehane on swapping the classroom for the ring in pursuit of her Olympic dream". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  5. "Jennifer Lehane gets a taste for International success". Irish Boxing. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  6. "Mixed emotions for Irish boxers at the European Games". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
  7. "Gallagher and Cassidy progress, disappointment for Lehane at Olympic qualifiers". The 42. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  8. "'We did it' – Olympian Jennifer Lehane 'on top of the world'". Irish Boxing. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  9. "Aidan Walsh, Daina Moorehouse, Jennifer Lehane and Grainne Walsh win in Bangkok as Ireland qualify record number for Olympics". RTE. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  10. "Lehane achieves cherished ambition and qualifies for Paris 2024". Meath Chronicle. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
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