Aidan Walsh savouring Olympic second coming after tough times

Not too long ago, Aidan Walsh wouldn't have anticipated getting a second shot at an Olympic Games.

The first time round had certainly been memorable and worthwhile, coming home from the delayed Tokyo Games with a bronze medal in the welterweight class and etching his own name in the garlanded ranks of Irish amateur boxing history.

But since then, the 27-year-old has had his fair share of challenges to overcome and, for the guts of a year and a half, Paris 2024 was not on the agenda.

However, in three weeks' time, the Belfast native will have 'IRL' on the back of his singlet again and will put himself to the test at his second Olympics where he will be part of a ten-strong Irish contingent alongside sister Michaela once again.

"I'd walked away completely from boxing," Walsh tells RTÉ Sport as he reflects on the journey back from the brink of waving his sporting career goodbye.

"I was out of the ring for 14 months and decided to come back and just give it a go.

"There was a lot to weigh up. Would I come back? Would it be worth it? What would happen?

"It was due to mental health and I'm quite open about that. But I just said I'd come back and give it a go, and I've a good support network around me, I've good people around me and I've good backing.

"So a lot of factors came into play to make the decision to come back. But I've done it and it's paid off."

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Aidan Walsh was among six of the Team Ireland boxers to chat in-depth to RTÉ Sport as they convened at the Sport Ireland Campus

Walsh