Amy Broadhurst, the Irish boxer who switched to Team GB for the 2024 Olympics but ultimately missed qualification, is now focusing on the 2028 Games. She has announced her pregnancy, leading to a year-long break from boxing, but the experience has strengthened her resolve to return to the sport.
Amy Broadhurst is hoping to fight at the 2028 Olympics after a change in plan to going professional following last year's Games in Paris. The Dundalk boxer, who won gold medals at the World Championships, European Championships and Commonwealth Games in 2022, missed out on the Paris Games after defeat at the final qualifier tournament in Thailand last May having switched from Team Ireland to Team GB.
Broadhurst had planned to turn pro, with promoter Eddie Hearn stating he would be interested in working with the 27-year-old, but she will now take a year out of the sport after announcing that she is pregnant.Reflecting on moving from Ireland to Team GB and the heartbreak of missing out on the Olympics, Broadhurst told Off The Ball: 'It was sad. There was a lot of emotions involved from January to May and there was a lot of, I would say, resentment, anger, sadness. There was a lot built up in me but come September/ October, obviously I was pregnant as well, but when everything mellowed as well a little bit I kind of took a step back and a lot of that has gone now and I'm on a different journey, a different path now and I know I will be back to where I was eventually, but it was very, very difficult mentally to go through what had happened. 'It was crazy because in March I was on the Irish team and then at the beginning of April I was flying to America with Team GB and it all happened very, very quickly that I didn't have time to think about what I was actually doing and even if somebody says to me 'do you have any regrets', I don't because I seen an opportunity there for the Olympic Games that I have always dreamed about and I took it, but it was just so intense and like going from one group of people that you've known for seven, eight years, to then going over to unknown and sort of having to get to know these people in such a short amount of time was very, very difficult and then things going on in the background as well. Instagram 'It was a lot. That's why I think because I'm pregnant now and I'm being forced to take that year away it's going to do me a lot of good rather than... the plan was to go pro and I wanted to, but at the same time I didn't want anything to do with boxing because it was going to be a sprint then from actually losing in Thailand and to then going and switching career. Maybe I'd have to move. It was just a lot so once I found out I was pregnant then it kind of answered a lot of questions for me because I'm going to stay amateur and I'm going to go for the next Olympics whereas if I wasn't pregnant, I could be living in America right now because Eoin (partner) was offered a job with America.' Broadhurst revealed there was a part of her that didn't want to box again after everything that happened last year, but says being told she cannot fight for a year has made her realise how much she loves the sport. She added: 'Getting pregnant was the answer that I needed because there was a part of me that didn't want to box again, like too much had happened and the way I was emotionally. So as soon as I found out I was pregnant and you're told you're not going to compete for a year, you kind of realise then actually I do love the sport and I do love what I do. 'So I'm excited to actually when the baby's here like start from the bottom. I've no tone about me anymore, I've lost all my muscle, I've lost everything. 'I can do like pads and I've done some pads as well with Eoin. I've done no running and I've started doing a bit of walking and a little bit of weights as well, but nothing too mad because you have people who say you can't go too heavy. 'There's part of me that wants to let my body just relax from it all and then as soon as I start I'll be able to see the progress that I've made from day one to my next competition.'
AMY BROADHURST PREGNANCY BOXING OLYMPICS AMATEUR
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