“Can you post me my medal now?” – Conlan reacts to Olympic Investigation leaks

Michael Conlan has asked for his Olympic medal to be posted to him as official Rio 2016 corruption conformation is incoming.

According to the Guardian newspaper, Conlan’s infamous Rio 2016 quarter-final with Vladimir Nikitin is one of up to 10 bouts suspected to have been manipulated at the 2016 Olympic Games.

The AIBA brought in Richard McLaren – the man who led the investigation into widespread Russian doping – to complete the second Rio investigation in June and his initial findings will be shared at a press conference in Lausanne tomorrow [Thursday].

It’s understood Conlan’s bantamweight quarter-final is one fight, the result of which, will be confirmed as suspicious and it will be interesting to see if suspicions surrounding Katie Taylor and Joe Ward’s Olympic exits emerge.

Conlan was the ‘robbed’ poster boy of the Games after his massive reaction to quarterfinal defeat and the blatant injustice of his exit.

The then reigning world amateur champion lost on a split decision to Russia’s Nikitin, a fighter he has since defeated in the pros, causing uproar across Ireland and further afield. Indeed, such was the damage the Belfast fighter inflicted on Nikitin at the time the Russian had to pull out of his semi-final with Shakur Stevenson.

Conlan’s reaction has become a thing of Olympic and Irish sporting folklore and while he didn’t let fly with expletives or flip the bird on hearing news with regard to the findings of the investigation he couldn’t resist a sly dig.

Wow, shock horror! @Olympics can you post me my medal now ? 🤣 https://t.co/J0XdBBEpdx

— Michael Conlan (@mickconlan11) September 29, 2021

Aiba has previously admitted “an unwelcome axis of influence” affected judging during the Rio Olympics.

However, the governing body also said there was no evidence of “active interference” in the results.

The Olympics relationship with boxing has changed since Rio with the IOC taking control of qualification.

Speaking when the investigation was launched the current AIBA president Umar Kremlev said: “Boxing was created when rules were introduced to ensure fair fights.

“Any undermining of those rules is unacceptable.

“For some time, it has been clear that AIBA could do more in following up on allegations of unfairness.

“Unfortunately, in order to move to a brighter future, we must now also shine a light on AIBA’s past.

“The best way to do this is to bring in independent experts to uncover any wrongdoing so that we can learn any lessons that need to be learned and restore confidence.

“Professor McLaren has an unparalleled track record when it comes to sporting investigations and I encourage everyone in the world of boxing who may have evidence of interest to step forward and share it with McLaren and his team.”

Popular figure Conlan is at present closing in on a featherweight world title shot and should face Leigh Wood in an eliminator come December time.