Amy Broadhurst’s Quest for Olympic Glory: How a Change in Nationality May Lead to Paris Gold

The Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) has been contacted by GB Boxing on behalf of Amy Broadhurst, the current world champion, who wants to change her nationality from Ireland to Great Britain in order to qualify for the Paris Olympics. Broadhurst has expressed her desire to switch allegiance and the IABA has discussed this matter with the Olympic Federation of Ireland and Sport Ireland. While they are disappointed, they have stated that they will not stand in her way if she decides to proceed with the change.

Broadhurst is currently ranked number one in the lightweight category (60kg) and is an Olympic champion in that weight class. However, despite being a world, European, and Commonwealth Games champion, she 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 is frustrated with this situation and has expressed her disappointment through social media. She has also 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. If approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Broadhurst aims to compete for Great Britain at the Paris Games instead of representing Ireland.