Dean Clancy

Dean, born in Sligo in 2001, won seven successive Irish underage titles from 2013 and won two European Junior/Youth silver medals before he represented Ireland in the Youth Olympics in Argentina in 2018. In 2019, just four weeks after his 18th birthday, he won his first Irish senior title. Winning a European U22 title in 2021 came next and qualified him for the 2022 European Games which were an Olympic qualifier. Dean clinched his Olympic spot for Paris by beating an Italian in the Men’s 63. 5kg (lightweight) quarter-final and went on to win a bronze medal. Dean says his dad Jason “has coached and guided me on this journey and shaped me into the boxer I am today,”. He has put his college studies on hold to train fulltime for Paris 2024 and, every Tuesday, gets on a train at 6:30am to go to Dublin to join the national squad. Dean performs particularly well under the pressure of big competitions and says that’s because “I just enjoy boxing. When I’m out there and I’m enjoying it I’m a great tournament boxer.”