McConnell may have taken the only gold but it was a successful Games for the boxing team as a whole with half of the 12-strong squad taking home a medal.
Michaela Walsh and Kaci Rock also leave Glasgow with a silver while Willie John McCartan, Garyn McAllister and Jude Gallagher, champion four years ago, all claimed bronze.
There was much made of the age profiles of the squad heading over to Glasgow, with eight aged 25 or under and nine competing at their first Games.
While Louis Rooney, Janssen Hill, Eoghan Quinn and JP Hale all fell at the first hurdle, they were the only four to not win at least one bout.
Nicole Clyde and Caitlin Fryers made it to the quarter-final stage while McCartan, McAllister and Gallagher exited at the semi-finals.
Some did receive the luck of the draw, with Walsh, Rock, Walsh, Hill, McAllister and McCartan going straight through to quarter-finals where they were one win away from a medal, but they still had to seize the initiative and push on.
For Walsh, it was a fourth successive medal at the Games, her third silver to add to the two from 2014 and 2018 and the gold from 2022.
She joins bowler Neil Booth, shooter Martin Millar plus Mike Bull and Lady Mary Peters from athletics on four medals at the Games.
Only shooter David Calvert has won more with eight.
She was “speechless” to hear her name mentioned among those greats, but her achievements demonstrate her longevity and she’s not finished yet.
“I’m proud of my performances throughout the whole tournament. I have Europeans now in six weeks and I’m using this as a springboard to that and I’m ready to go again,” she said.
“[Four medals] It’s obviously an amazing achievement. I’m lucky, I love boxing and I’m doing what I love. It’s a lifetime of work and it’s amazing for the medals to show that.”
While Walsh is used to such an occasion, it was easy for younger members of the team to be overawed at a first multi-sport competition, but Rock showed maturity beyond her years, particularly in fighting back to win the semi-final after losing the first round.
For Rock, like McConnell, it’s a first major medal at her first Games and she believes it is just the start for her and many of her team-mates.
“I think so many people doubted our team because we’re a younger, fresher and inexperienced team but we have six medals coming home.
“We’ve proven we’re only getting started and there’s so much more to come.”
