Birtley’s appetite for medals is insatiable.
No matter what the combination of boxers, the fighting men and women of the Co Durham club pile up appearances on the podium.
And the McCormack twins, Luke and Pat, Calum French and Mark Dickinson are hoping to get among the medals at the second European Games, which opened today in Minsk.
The Birtley quartet make up a third of the 12-strong contingent in the boxing section in the Belarus capital.
Pat McCormack and Dickinson are both scheduled to box on Saturday with Luke McCormack and French due in action on Tuesday.
French and the McCormacks have been together at previous major competitions – all three coming away with medals at the 2017 European Championships with two silvers and a bronze.
The McCormacks medalled at the 2018 Commonwealth Games (Pat with gold and Luke bronze) but it was even better at the European Union Championships last year in Spain, where the Washington twins both struck gold and Calum, from Gateshead, took silver.
Three has now grown to four with brilliant middleweight Dickinson joining the squad.
The European Games is England’s U75 kilo champ’s tournament debut but he has already tasted international success by winning gold at the Gee Bee competition in Finland in March.
“It’s his first major but that won’t stop him looking for a medal,” French said of the teenager.
“He won the senior England title and he started his international career on the right path, with some good scalps along the way.
“Mark is something special.
“Pat, Luke and me have all been in the gym since we were 12 and Mark will have been eight or nine at the time.
“We’ve watched him go all the way through the schools, juniors, youth and into the seniors and we know how good he is.
“We all train together, we’re part of the Birtley family and we’re a really tight bunch.”
Looking from the outside in, you would think the pressure is unbearable on the boxers to win medals, but French says it simply brings out the best in them.
“We all want each other to do well,” he told punch-lines. “I think when we are doing well it spurs us all on.
“Winning is a habit and I think we are all in the form to do well.”
Pat McCormack, top seed in the U69 division, kicks off his campaign against Hungary’s Lazlo Kozak., while Dickinson is also in action on Saturday when he tackles Ireland’s Michael Nevin in the last 16.
French, seeded four at U60 kilos, and Luke McCormack, third seed at U64 kilos must wait until Tuesday to box.
Calum (pictured) takes on the winner of the Italy v Bulgaria match between Francesco Maietta and Kiril Rusonov, Luke awaits the winner of Milan Fodor-Per Novak as Hungary face the Czech Republic.
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Ian Horrocks
