Jack Marley aims to build from Olympic experience at World Boxing Championships
Michael Bolton
At just 21, Jack Marley became Ireland's first heavyweight boxer at the Olympics since 1996.
After winning his first bout, a medal was not to be for the Dublin boxer when he lost to Tajikistan’s Davlat Boltaev in the quarter-finals.
Just over a year later, Marley is preparing for the World Boxing Championships in Liverpool next week and hopes to learn from his experience in Paris.
"It was tough leaving in the medal fight, just being so close to the podium.
“The immediate reaction was of disappointment. But then, once you sit back and take it all in as a Games as a whole and an Olympic cycle as a whole, I was happy on the outcome of the four years.”
The years previous would have seen all of Jack's focus on qualifying and preparing for the Paris Olympics, which saw Kellie Harrington claim Ireland's sole medal in boxing.
Coming down from being an Olympian has been an easy transition for Marley, who has enjoyed the simple things in lift in the months that followed.
"It was fairly easy. You are in a bubble for so long, and then when you are out of the bubble, it just takes a few days to come around.
"You are back with your friends and family, and you are back to seeing everyone, that is the best part of it.
"It is cool. There is a lot of people in the village with the same aspiration and the same goals which is amazing.
"We were pretty dialled in at the Olympics, so we didn't go wondering much. We didn't take a look around the village as much as we should, but we were so locked in and focused on what we had to do."
The tournament will be a historic moment for boxing, as World Boxing breaks away from the International Boxing Association after years of controversy.
In its first tournament, Ireland have sent a strong team with the ambition of medals, in the first year of the 2028 Olympic cycle, with the future of the sport confirmed for Los Angeles.
With the tournament being in an area with Irish support, Marley hopes this will be to his benefit.
"The two main positives are the same climate and the same time difference, which is a blessing.
“We don’t have to really acclimatise in either time or weather, which is great. It’s just like boxing in Ireland.
"We got to how we are from how we have always boxed. There is no point taking anything away, only add.
“It’s about getting one per cent better every day. I feel like I’m just trying to add one per cent. Not making huge changes; just improving on what I’m good at already.”