Amy Broadhurst, the current world champion, has expressed her desire to change her nationality from Ireland to Great Britain in order to qualify for the Paris Olympics. The Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) has been contacted by GB Boxing on behalf of Broadhurst, expressing her interest in switching allegiance. While the IABA has discussed this matter with the Olympic Federation of Ireland and Sport Ireland, ultimately stating their disappointment but not standing in her way if she decides to proceed with the change.
If approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Broadhurst plans to compete in the lightweight category (60kg), where Ireland’s Kellie Harrington is currently an Olympic champion. Despite being a world, European, and Commonwealth Games champion, Broadhurst has been informed by the High Performance Unit that she will not be assessed for the upcoming second World Qualifying tournament in Bangkok. Instead, they wanted to evaluate her and Lisa O’Rourke for the European Championships in Serbia, where Grainne Walsh is expected to be selected.
Broadhurst expressed her frustration with the situation and stated that she feels like she will not be representing Ireland at the Paris Games. She has informed her psychologist that she will not be returning to the high-performance center in the near future and is considering not going back at all. The athlete described the situation as confusing and stated that she is struggling to understand what is happening.
