JENNY LEHANE’S OLYMPIC debut ended in a defeat to China’s Yuan Chang in their 54kg Round of 16 contest.
The Irish bantamweight, a former taekwondo standout who picked up boxing as recently as 2019, was beaten on a unanimous decision by the vastly more experienced Chang, a top-10 ranked boxer.
Chang, a Youth Olympic gold medallist as far back as 2014 and two-time Asian medallist (gold in 2018 and silver in 2022), was virtually flawless as she led the dance from first bell and found the target at will off either hand.
Lehane, 25, recovered from a 0-5 first round and managed to establish her rhythm in the second, finding plenty of her own success — albeit not enough of it to pull any of the judges back to her side.
Chang, 27, had the bout all but wrapped up heading into the third, leading 20-18 on all five cards. She minimised risk and coasted to the finish to book a medal bout with Bulgaria’s world no.1 and gold-medal favourite Stanimira Petrova.
Co. Meath native Lehane, who first picked up a pair of boxing gloves in DCU five years ago, exits the Games at the first time of asking but she is an athlete for whom qualification alone was borderline miraculous.
Lehane intends to continue to box and add to her own experience in the coming years.
