After eighteen months away from the ring, Amy Broadhurst is back where everything accelerates: at the heart of Great Britain’s Olympic boxing programme. A former World, European and Commonwealth champion, the Dundalk-born boxer has rejoined the GB Boxing setup with the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games firmly in her sights.
An Irish boxing icon left behind by her federation
For many years, Amy Broadhurst was one of the cornerstones of Irish amateur boxing. Born in Dundalk in 1997 and developed at Dealgan Boxing Club, she gradually established herself as a benchmark on the international scene, capable of excelling across several weight categories. Her 2022 season remains the pinnacle of her career to date: a world title at light-welterweight in Istanbul, a European crown in Budva, and a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. At that point, few amateur boxers in Europe could boast such a decorated résumé.
As the Olympic cycle towards Paris 2024 gathered pace, Broadhurst appeared a natural contender for qualification. Yet the spring of 2024 proved to be a brutal turning point. Informed by the Irish Athletic Boxing Association that she would not be selected for the final Olympic qualifying tournament, the boxer was left stunned, watching her Olympic dream begin to slip away. Seeing her father’s British nationality — he was born in Slough, Berkshire — as a chance to keep that dream alive, she made the decisive move to switch sporting allegiance and officially joined the British boxing federation.
Selected by GB Boxing for the final world Olympic qualifier in Thailand, Broadhurst suddenly found herself in a new environment, within a new structure, but under immediate pressure to deliver results. Defeated in the quarter-finals by South Korea’s Yeonji Oh, she fell just short of qualification for Paris. The disappointment was inevitable. Shortly after that setback, however, another life-changing event reshaped her priorities entirely: the imminent birth of her first child, which inevitably placed her boxing career on hold.
Los Angeles 2028 firmly in focus
Eighteen months on, Amy Broadhurst is back. In January 2026, she officially rejoined GB Boxing’s World Class Programme following an assessment phase carried out at the end of 2025 alongside the Podium squad’s coaches. Now 28, the newly integrated British boxer returns as a far more seasoned athlete, shaped by both success and adversity.
Her day-to-day routine is now centred in Yorkshire. Four days a week, she trains at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, the beating heart of Britain’s Olympic boxing system. She will compete in her preferred -60kg lightweight division, a definitive choice after several years marked by frequent weight changes.
Within GB Boxing, her return is viewed as a major boost. Performance Director Rob McCracken has made no secret of his enthusiasm, highlighting that Broadhurst brings not only an exceptional international record but also valuable depth in a weight category that remains fiercely competitive. In a sport where global standards continue to rise, having a boxer capable of immediately matching the world’s best represents a significant strategic advantage. Moreover, as a new Olympic cycle gets underway, many athletes within the programme are still young; a figure like Broadhurst offers invaluable experience to help guide and support the next generation.
The road ahead will be gradual: international training camps, preparation tournaments, and eventually the Olympic qualification events as Los Angeles draws closer. Nothing is guaranteed, particularly in a global boxing landscape where more and more nations are developing rapidly and asserting themselves on the international stage. But for Amy Broadhurst, the objective is clear — and the journey towards LA28 has truly begun.
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