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Olympic bronze medallist Aidan Walsh says he leaves boxing with a full heart, a lifetime of memories, and a deep sense of gratitude after officially calling time on his competitive career last week.
The Belfast star, who lit up rings from the National Stadium to Tokyo, retires as one of Ireland’s most accomplished amateurs of the modern era — an Olympic medal winner, a two-time Olympian, Commonwealth Games medallist, and one half of the country’s most successful boxing siblings.
And as he steps away from the high-performance environment, Walsh says the moments that mean the most are the ones he shared with his sister, Michaela.
“One highlight is to do with my sister,” Walsh reflected. “In the moment, it’s hard to appreciate those moments but looking back now, to do all that, to go to all of those countries, to go to two Olympic Games, two Commonwealth Games with my sister it’s just an absolute privilege. It’s something that I hope to tell my kids and grandkids. I couldn’t have done it without Michaela being there, without my family.”
Walsh’s journey was shaped not only by family, but by the support systems around him. He leaves the sport not only proud of what he accomplished, but thankful for the people who helped him achieve it.
“I feel so lucky in my career,” he said. “I’ve been helped by really good people. I got the best support services and the best advice and the best care… I’m now hoping to do a PhD next year. I would love to do it within Irish amateur boxing.
“Myself and Dr Paul Gaffney are writing a book on our work over the last number of years on how to help young athletes coming through with tips and tools and suggestions. I’d love to write my own book after that; I have a number of personal experiences and stories that could really contribute to young people and elite sport. They would be my goals.”
The Olympic medallist also paid tribute to the Belfast boxing community that raised him — a community that has produced generations of champions and remains central to the sport’s identity on the island.
“A lot of the clubs do a lot of great work,” he said. “Holy Family, Holy Trinity, they would be two of the most dominant clubs in Belfast. If you look at the history of these clubs, and Mickey Hawkins and Gerry Storey and a number of other coaches around Belfast and what they’ve done for Irish boxing — amazing!
“Those coaches and those clubs contribute a huge amount to the success of Irish Olympic boxing. There’s a number of clubs within Belfast who do such a good job and really influence athletes from grassroots right up to elite level performance. They all contribute to Irish boxing immensely.”
As he closes one chapter and prepares for the next, Walsh says it’s not medals, podiums or achievements that he’ll treasure most — but the people he met along the way.
“Sport’s been good to me. Sport Ireland has been good to me, the Olympic Federation of Ireland, Sport NI and the Irish Amateur Boxing Association have been really good to me. Above all, regardless of medal success or any type of achievement, I think it’s the relationships that I’ve made that really mean the most and are what I’ve come to appreciate more than the medals.
“When I talk about that, I get quite emotional. I’ve felt very lucky in my career. I’ve had really good people around me. I’ve been really blessed. I’d like to think those relationships will continue to flourish over the next two thirds of my life.”
