IRELAND'S newest Olympic boxing medalist Aidan Walsh and his team mate and sister Michaela were floored after being welcomed back to their home club by more than 100 little pugilists.
Monkstown Boxing Club's summer scheme ended yesterday with a surprise for the 120 children and its most famous fighters.
Neither the children nor the returning heroes had been warned that the homecoming party was planned.
It followed an Olympic-themed fun day for the children, with a bouncy castle assault course, and medals galore for those who had attended the three-week summer scheme.
Aidan Walsh won a bronze medal at the Tokyo games, but was forced to miss his semi-final after fracturing his right ankle when celebrating his quarter-finals win over Merven Clair of Mauritius.
His older sister won universal praise for her graciousness in defeat to Italy's Irma Testa, after which she vowed to "be back again" and wished her opponent "all the best".
They are the first brother and sister to box in the same Olympics.
Aidan was nine and Michaela was 13 when they were first introduced to boxing at St Agnes' Boxing Club before later moving to Holy Family Boxing Club, where they fought for 10 years.
The pair then moved to Monkstown Boxing Club in 2017 and have gone on to enjoy a plethora of wins including gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and the All Ireland Elites a year later, which cleared their paths for Tokyo.
The siblings arrival back at the Co Antrim club led to scenes of jubilation as the children, their parents and clubmates swarmed round them in celebration.
Their coach Paul Johnston said it was the first time Aidan and Michaela had seen their clubmates since their return.
"They knew nothing about the surprise party. They thought they were just coming up to the club and there were more than 100 kids screaming at them.
"Aidan and Michaela were blown away by it. They were speechless. To the children they're their heroes. We knew after Aidan's (bronze) medal we needed something special."
