Joe Ward – Boxing

Age: 22. Event: Light heavyweight. Hometown: Moate

He appears to have been around for a decade already and he’s still just 22-years-old. A World Championship silver medallist when he was still a teenager was followed by two gold medals in the European Championships. The southpaw is one of the brightest natural talents to emerge in Ireland in any sport and with his already impressive current collection of medals he has probably underachieved. He made it to the 2015 World Championships final but missed out on gold medal to his Cuban nemesis Julio César La Cruz. He could make the Olympic final if he misses Cruz beforehand.

Johnny Watterson

Johnny Watterson

Johnny Watterson is a sports writer with The Irish Times