Gavin Cooney reports from Paris North Arena

PERHAPS THE MOST terrifying part of life as an Olympian is how suddenly it can end.

Three years ago, as the Tokyo Games belatedly took centre stage, Dean Clancy had started training full-time with the Irish High Performance Centre, and was taken out to Dublin airport to welcome Ireland’s boxing team home from Tokyo, because, he was told, “you are the team of the future’.”

Clancy then turned the future into the present by qualifying for the super lightweight class in Paris via last year’s European Games in Krakow, which gave him 14 months to train and plot and dream and worry and visualise something very different to what he must now confront. 

But Dean Clancy’s Paris Olympics are now a thing to be discussed in the past tense, passing into personal history during nine messily ferocious minutes against Jordan’s Obada Alkasbeh at Paris’ North Arena. 

The decisive margin was wafer-thin, with Clancy beaten on a 3-2 split decision. For Clancy, c’est fin. 

Clancy’s eyes shimmered with barely-tamed heartbreak as he spoke to journalists after the fight, and when asked if he felt aggrieved, he took a deep breath, choked back tears and squeaked out a Yeah. 

Clancy speaks to the media. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO

His chief complaint was that Alkasbeh was not docked a point in the second round for landing a punch after Clancy had slipped to the ground. Alkasbeh was docked a point for repeating the offence in the third round, but it was ultimately not enough to nudge the result in Clancy’s favour. 

“He was rough and ready”, said Clancy. “He caught me with a couple of elbows, but it’s boxing.” 

Ultimately Clancy paid the price for a slow start, admitting he struggled initially to find his distance. Clancy lost the first round on four of the five judges’ scorecards, but did finish with a flurry of punches that gave him oxygen for what was to come. He improved upon the resumption, drawing cheers and roars of encouragement from an arena packed with Irish fans. He clawed back some credit among the judges, but was narrowly beaten 3-2. 

And while Clancy won the final round – admittedly helped by his opponent’s docked point – he was eliminated on a painfully split decision. Clancy led 29-28 on two of the judges’ scorecards, and trailed 29-27 on another. Two judges had the fight at 28-28 apiece, and so were asked to nominate their winner. Both went with Alkasbeh, condemning Clancy to a first-hurdle exit. 

“I thought it was a good fight”, said Clancy. “It took me a bit to get my distance right as I knew it would be a rough, tough, physical fight. After the first I found my distance, but it went against me at the last.” 

Clancy will regret not being able to fight the bout on his terms, as he was sucked into a brawl by his squatter, windmilling opponent. Clancy admitted Alkasbeh’s experience may have been a decisive factor, given he fought at Rio 2016 when Clancy was all of 14 years old. 

At only 22, Clancy will be back for Los Angeles in 2028, providing the sport can get its arse in sufficient administrative gear to satisfy the IOC and guarantee the sport’s inclusion on the next Games’ programme. 

So there is always another story to be told in the future tense, even if it will take Dean Clancy some time to accept it.