Eyes on the prize for Shannan Davey as the Paris Olympic Games approach

There are now just 43 days until the 2024 Paris Olympic Games begin, and Narrabri boy Shannan Davey is ready to roll.

The boxer will represent Australia in the 71kg division at this year’s Games and he has been training the house down since he qualified for the event last year when he won Pacific Games gold in the Solomon Islands.

His first challenge this year was to overcome a knee injury that required a operation after tearing his meniscus, and since then he has trained both on home soil and abroad as his preparations have ramped up.

He travelled to USA in April where he spent two weeks at the Olympic training centre for an international camp alongside several nations and the rest of the Australian team.

He then lined up for his first bout of the year at the World Boxing Cup USA international Invitational in Pueblo, where he took on Denmark’s Nikolai Terteryan, a fellow Olympian at this year’s Games.

“I performed really well there and it was good to knock the cobwebs off after my injury and get back in the deep end,” Davey said.

“I didn’t get the win but I finished strong. I lost the first two rounds but I won the last round. I dominated the last round.

“I was devastated with the loss, but for me it was a win to get back in there after the injury and perform at a world-class level.”

Davey then returned home before taking off again last month to the Netherlands, where he competed at World Boxing’s 2024 Eindhoven Box Cup.

He challenged Germany’s Michael Siemens in the quarter-final of the 71kg division and won by unanimous decision, which saw him progress to the semi-final, in which he took on the Netherlands’ Zelkariah Elhaij and again won by unanimous decision.

He was then scheduled to challenge a fellow Olympian in Chinese Taipei’s Kan Chia-Wei, however, Chia-Wei was injured in his semi-final win and could not compete in the final.

That saw Davey win the tournament via walkover. The Aussie said that he was disappointed to have not had the chance to win it in a third and final bout, but he was proud of his efforts nevertheless.

“It’s not the way you want to get the job done but I’m happy I still got to have two solid fights,” Davey said.

“They were good, tough opponents.

“I’m just really more focused on my preparation for the Olympics, and those two fights helped with my ring rust, especially coming off the injury and my operation at the start of the year.

Davey then travelled to England for a three-week stint. He spent most of his time there at Sheffield and also stopped by London before returning to Australia on Sunday.

He is now in Brisbane for another high performance camp, and will be there for a month before departing for Germany on July 9 for a two-week pre-Olympic training camp before he finally arrives in Paris.

The 24-year-old is excited for what now lies ahead.

“We go straight from Germany to the Olympic Village,” he said.

“It’s crazy to have those words come out of my mouth.

“All these years working towards this goal and it’s nearly here.

“It’s a bit surreal but I’ve always had that confidence in me and the belief. I know how hard I’ve worked for this.

“The job is not done yet though. I want to get over there and get a gold medal. I’m not just going for a tracksuit. As good as it feels to say that I’m an Olympian, I want to be an Olympic gold medallist.”

Davey, as humble as ever, thanked his family, friends and sponsors for their support.

He said that he would not be where he is without them today, especially one of his long-time sponsors, Lee Parish, who paid for his ACL knee operation in 2021 and has been one of his biggest supporters along the way.