Amy Broadhurst, who became the 2022 world light welterweight amateur champion boxing with the Irish team, has been selected for Great Britain to take part in the final Olympic qualifiers in Bangkok in May and June of this year.
Broadhurst, from Dundalk, Co Louth, will compete for GB at her preferred light weight of 60kg, the division Kellie Harrington was chosen for to compete with Ireland in the summer’s Olympics in Paris.
The 27-year-old has represented both Ireland and Northern Ireland at amateur level. She was born in Ireland but also qualifies for Northern Ireland (NI) through her father Tony, who was born in England. Broadhurst won the gold medal in the lightweight division at the 2022 Commonwealth Games competing with NI.
Earlier this year, when the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) said they would not be putting her name forward for a 2024 Summer Olympics qualifier, it was announced that Broadhurst was looking to change allegiance to represent Great Britain. That was confirmed when GB announced their team of eight and she was named as the 60kg athlete in the women’s division.
There will be mixed feelings in Irish boxing to have lost such a talent; however, Ireland did not stand in Broadhurst’s way of making the move when she raised the issue after it was known that she would not be among those boxers selected for the final Olympic qualifying event.
Broadhurst was also a bronze medal winner in the lightweight division at the 2019 Women’s European Amateur Boxing Championships. If she qualifies for Paris through the Bangkok qualifying process, it is possible she will be drawn to meet Harrington in the Olympic lightweight draw. Harrington was beaten last week for the first time in several years at the European boxing championships in Belgrade, Serbia in the lightweight division.
