BY MATTHEW WILSON
ROISIN Hegarty made history back in October by becoming the first female boxer from Donegal to land a European gold medal when she sealed glory at the European U15 Boxing Championships.
Roisin made the journey to Montenegro in autumn of last year for the European Championships where she overcame the challenge of Tetiana Zvenihorodska in the 63kgs final.
Hegarty defeated the Ukrainian by a unanimous decision in the gold medal bout at the Mediterranean Sports Center to clinch victory and she expressed that it was a joyous occasion.
“It was a great feeling”, said Hegarty. It shows that all of your training and all of the coaching that has been put into you, you have shown it off in the ring. I was honestly just thrilled with joy.”
This was one of three fights that the Twin Towns boxer participated in en-route to glory in Montenegro, having stopped Croatia’s Mia Aleksa in the quarter-final before beating Turkey’s Ivana Kilci in her semi-final bout.
It was a real test of endurance and speaking to the Donegal News, she discussed that it was all about pacing herself throughout her journey.
“It was all about pacing yourself and obviously, working up towards it was definitely the hardest part.
When you won the first medal which was a bronze medal then upgrading it to a silver and gold medal, it was probably the best. All of your training pays off then.”
The year prior to her European Under 15 Championships victory, Hegarty went to the European Schoolgirls Championships in Bosnia & Herzegovina where she suffered a defeat in the quarter-finals.
This experience served the Loreto Secondary School student well and helped to push her the next time she took to the European stage.
“Yeah definitely. When I went out to Bosnia in 2024 it was definitely a guide. Then to come back, the experience from getting beaten by the Russian definitely pushed me on and I knew that I was only there for one medal colour.”
This gold medal was a historic moment, with the Letterkenny native becoming the first ever female boxer from Donegal to have landed a medal of its kind at a European Championships.
Only Jason Quigley and Steven O’Reilly have previously earned a European gold from the county and Hegarty stated that it’s an achievement which will never leave her.
“It is unbelievable and it’s something that will never leave you. It’s something that will follow you everywhere.”
Having dedicated so much of her time and commitment to boxing since she first took up the sport at the age of eight, this European triumph will come as Hegarty’s just rewards for the efforts she has displayed throughout the years.
The Twin Towns BC boxer discussed that times can be difficult during various stages of her training regime but to reach the summit of European youth boxing makes this all worthwhile.
“Yeah definitely, with boxing you can get a bit sick of it when you’re cutting weight, when you’re eating healthy and your friends are eating all of the stuff that you can’t eat.
“It does be worth it when you do get your hand lifted and you can win the best thing in amateur boxing.”
The Loreto Secondary School student went into the European Under 15 Championships as a four-time national champion and she recently made that five titles.
She was crowned Girls 4 66kgs champion by way of a walkover having been the only boxer to weigh in for the category.
Hegarty expressed that it wasn’t the method of victory that she would’ve wanted to land her fifth national title but she’ll be entering the ring in further competitions over the coming weeks and months where she’ll be looking to add to her impressive collection.
“It’s great. I got a walkover in the Irish to win my fifth All-Ireland, it’s not the way that I wanted it but a title is a title.
“I have my Europeans then I have my Four Nations, on the 17th, 18th and 19th of April is the Box-Off. After that I’ll hopefully get to the Four Nations in Scotland this June.
“I have a lot to look forward to and things to be training for.”