Amy Broadhurst blasts critics after Olympic heartache: ‘They wouldn’t have a pair of balls to do what I done’

The Dundalk-born boxer won World and European titles in the welterweight division for Team Ireland in 2022 as well as a gold medal at lightweight in the Commonwealth Games for Northern Ireland.

But after the IABA High Performance Unit opted not to have a box-off to decide who to send in the 66kg weight division to the last Olympic qualifier in Thailand, Broadhurst – whose father Tony was born in the UK – opted to switch allegiance to Britain and attempted to qualify as a lightweight. At the European Games last year, Broadhurst was beaten in the Olympic quota fight at 66kg by Rosie Eccles from Wales.

Broadhurst’s final chance of securing a place in Paris ended yesterday when she was beaten 4-1 by a Korean fighter in the lightweight quarter-final. In a long statement on social media, Amy said she had a dream of becoming an Olympian since she was a little girl.

“Today that flame slowly died out. My whole life has been about the Olympic Games. I made my life all about boxing and today I suffered by biggest blow.

“Some people might criticize my decision for switching allegiance, those people are probably sitting at home who wouldn’t have a pair of balls to do what I done. If everyone had any idea what I went through for the past 12 months you would very well understand why I done what I done and in saying that I have no regrets at all about the decisions I’ve made.

“I give myself every opportunity I could to get to the Olympic Games but that wasn’t God’s plan for me. I ticked every box in the book, I trained my ass off & I done everything correctly and I’m proud of myself.”

Broadhurst said that since joining Team GB she has been made to “feel at home.”

“The way I was treated, the people who took me under their wing and done all they could for me & the boxers themselves made the decision worth it.

“These people brought back the love for boxing that I was missing and lit a fire in me that I haven’t felt for a long time.

“I haven’t been this happy in a long time and I’ve very grateful for the people that I got to break along this journey.

“They took a chance in me and unfortunately I couldn’t return the favour,” said the 27-year-old. Thanking all her fans in Britain and Ireland as well as Team GB’s coaching staff, she said she was taking a break from boxing and social media.

But Broadhurst’s career in the ring is far from over. It is virtually certain she will turn professional this year and her style is suited to the paid ranks.

Meanwhile, for the second time in three months, Tullamore native Gráinne Walsh (28) is one win away from securing a slot at the Olympics in the welterweight division. Walsh, who boxes out of St Mary’s BC in Tallaght, outclassed Seda Sanago from the Ivory Coast in a last-16 66kg fight to make it three wins on the spin.

But her biggest challenge will come tomorrow when she steps inside the ring against Ani Hovesepyan from Armenia. She underlined her credentials by stopping New Zealander Cara Whareray in her last-16 contest.

Meanwhile, ​Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Aidan Walsh has been beaten 4-1 by Jordanian Zeyad Eashash in the quarter-final of the 71kg category.

The Belfast fighter can still make it to Paris, but he must win two fights on successive days to achieve that dream

In a controversial fight, the referee took centre stage, docking Walsh points in both the second and third rounds for excessive holding which effectively decided the contest.