How sister’s Olympic medal inspired Greentree to gold

After talking the talk, Emma-Sue Greentree has walked the walk to become Australia’s only female boxer to claim gold at this Commonwealth Games.

Greentree scored a split decision win over Indian Lovlina Borgohain to take out the women’s 75kg middleweight event, winning the final bout in Glasgow involving an Australian.

It was just the 27-year-old’s second fight at the Games, having opened her campaign with a split decision semi-final victory over England’s Mary Kate Smith in the five-athlete category.

Greentree, one of 10 siblings, added to Australia’s medal tally just hours after 21-year-old teammate Jye Dixon won gold in the men’s 55kg bantamweight event.

Rising as high as No.3 in the world amateur rankings, Greentree – who has type 1 diabetes – has never baulked from her gold medal ambitions in the lead up to this year’s Games.

She is the younger sister of softballer Belinda Wright, who was part of Australia’s bronze medal-winning team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“I did say it. I said I wanted to be on top of the podium,” Greentree said. “And I wasn’t going to give up until I was, and I made it. It’s crazy. I’m a big believer that you can do whatever you want, no matter the circumstance.

“Diabetes is, for me, it has been more of a motivator than anything.”

Sporting a large cut on her left eye after four of five judges gave her the win, Greentree explained how coach Dean Robinson helped push her to the finish line.

“We have this little call, it’s ‘car park’ – think of it how you want,” Greentree laughed. “He asked me as I walked out, ‘how bad do you want this?’.

“And I said, ‘I want this, like this is what I’m here for’. After the second round, my coach is like, ‘this is close, like you need to put the pedal down’.”

The Central Coast local was cheered on by a rambunctious gathering of her family – sister Wright included.

“I haven’t seen her yet, but I’m so excited to put this around her neck because that’s what she did when she came home with the bronze at the Olympics,” Greentree said.

“She’s always asking me if I’m OK.

“This is just a stepping stone. The next one I want to do is the Olympics and I’m hoping to get the same colour around my neck.”

Commonwealth Games Australia