Devastatingly, there will be no Olympics for boxer Amy Broadhurst after she was beaten in the 60kg division of the final qualification event in Bangkok this morning.
The Dundalk woman had made the switch from Team Ireland to Team GB in the hopes of securing a spot at the illustrious quadrennial Games, but lost out to Korea’s Oh Yeon Ji in the quarter-final in a 4-1 split decision.
Within that, the scorecards are broken down as follows; 30-27, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, 28-29, with the final round said to have been the ultimate decider between the pair.
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The result means the three-time Asian Champion will now progress in the hopes of clinching an Olympic qualification spot (should she finish within the top three of the tournament), while Broadhurst goes home empty handed.
In a statement on social media, Broadhurst spoke of how her "heart hurts like it’s never hurt before."
"There was a dream inside of me since I was a little girl and today that flame slowly died out. My whole life has all been about the Olympic Games, I made my life all about boxing and today I suffered my biggest blow," she says.
"Some people might criticise 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 thru 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 wasnt gods 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."
She then goes on to detail how Team GB had welcomed her with open arms, and thanked everyone, from her coaches to teammates, for their support along that journey.
"Since joining team GB I’ve been made feel at home," she says.
"The way I was treated, the people who took me under their wing and done all they could for me & the boxers themselves made this 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’m very grateful for the people that I got to meet along this journey.
"They took a chance on me and believed in me and unfortunately I couldn’t return the favour."
Finally, Broadhurst explained how she will now take "some time from social media & from boxing now", but thanked everyone for their support, "from Ireland and from GB."
Up until this point in the tournament, the Louth boxer had surpassed Spain’s Sheila Martinez on her Team GB debut on Monday, before beating Canada’s Terris Smith on Wednesday, both in unanimous decisions.
The defeat of the former World, European and Commonwealth Games champion and her subsequent knock out from the competition will have come to a surprise to many, considering she was one of the favourites to go on to Paris 2024.
Speaking after her victory on Wednesday, she remarked how she was “halfway there.”
“Two more to go [until qualification]," she said, speaking with GB Boxing after the bout.
"It probably wasn't my best performance but I still got the win and I got it comfortable as well so it says something that even when I’m not at my best, I'm hard to beat,” she added.
Broadhurst chose to make the move to Team GB after she snubbed for selection from the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA), who instead bestowed their pick for this qualification event to Grainne Walsh.
That decision saw Broadhurst alter from the 66kg division to the 60kg weight class upon her switch to Team GB, seeing as the latter was occupied by reigning Olympic champion Kellie Harrington when she was in the Irish set up.
Broadhurst qualifies for team GB through her father, Tony, who originally hails from England.
