Amy Broadhurst’s partner is set to be dropped from Kellie Harrington’s coaching ticket ahead of the Olympics, the Dublin boxer has revealed recently.
Broadhurst’s controversial switch from Ireland to Team GB and her desire to compete in the 60kg lightweight division, the same weight as Harrington, could pose as a conflict of interest for the Drogheda woman’s partner Eoin Pluck, who’s a coach with the IABA’s High Performance Unit.
As such, Harrington, who’s the reigning Olympic champion at that weight, explained to the media this week that “he won't be involved” with her coaching group should Broadhurst qualify for the illustrious quadrennial competition.
“It’s a shame because he's a great coach. But, I mean, you can't have that, like. So, essentially, it's a spy in the camp,” Harrington told the Irish Independent.
Broadhurst’s final chance to qualify for the Olympics comes in Bangkok at the end of the month, and should she be successful, she could face her former teammate down the tracks.
“Look, I don’t know how many boxers are in my weight. I will say twenty-two…If I was to think of just one person that would be absolutely crazy. There are so many really, really good girls out there. The draw has to be done you never overlook anybody; you cannot overlook anybody,” Harrington says when asked about that possibility.
“The way I looked at it is I trained for different types of styles. Then the draw gets done and then you go from there. One day at a time, and then one foot in front of the other and take it minute by minute in the ring,” she adds.
While Harrington has made it clear that Pluck won’t be involved on her ticket, she was unaware as to whether he would be coaching other Irish athletes in the lead up to the Games.
“He just won’t be coaching me,” she says.
On Broadhurst’s allegiance switch, she also pointed out that “there's no bad blood or bad feelings towards Amy.”
" She was a teammate. We don't really have bad blood in Team Ireland... and beyond!" she says.
With around 70 days to go until the Opening Ceremony, all roads now lead to Paris for Harrington.
“It’s a long tunnel, and it’s been a wide tunnel, because I qualified last year, in the European Games. And it’s been a long wait now, obviously,” she says.
“The focus hasn’t been there, but now it’s starting to shift, as of last week. And as it gets closer the tunnel starts to narrow and get shorter.”
