Aidan Walsh, Ireland’s Olympic boxing bronze medallist, says that he is dying to have a Chinese meal, a can of coke and a bag of Haribo sweets after returning home to a hero’s welcome.
The Monkstown Boxing club man claims he is in no rush to make a decision on his future and is still pinching himself after a whirlwind rise through the amateur ranks to earn a podium finish in Tokyo.
And, despite seeing his prospects of advancing further after his ill-judged post-fight celebrations after securing his bronze, he is content to reflect on his achievements and hopes he can inspire a new generation of Olympic champions.
“I’ve only been on the team a few years so to be a European and Olympic medallist is amazing. I want to see how far I can grow and push myself. There are opportunities before me now.
“In the European qualifiers, I wasn’t even in the world rankings, not even in the top 40. It doesn’t set everything in stone but I remember looking at that at the time and not seeing my name on the list.
“I’d like to think I’m a wee bit up the ladder now!”
“It was physically impossible for me to fight again after injuring my ankle but the main thing for me was that I was an Olympic medallist. That’s all that mattered to me.
“I remember watching the other fighters returning home with medals like Paddy Barnes and Michael Conlan visiting our club and wondering what it would be like to follow in their footsteps and now I am one of them.
“It still seems surreal. To see everyone here waiting to see me, I’m usually the one waiting to look at other people. I’m an Olympian and everything else is a bonus.
“I have to pinch myself. All I needed was the opportunity and the club and my coach helped me massively. And then being in the high performance unit where I got so much encouragement.
“I’m only a few years on the Irish team so to come away with a medal, everything was so condensed during Covid with the qualifiers and I’m just looking forward to getting back to a little bit of normality.
“I can’t wait to show my medal to all the kids and if they want to take the medal home and put it under their pillow and dream of doing what I have done, then I have no problem with that.”
The 24-year-old will now hire a caravan and take a holiday in Carnlough with his girlfriend and, instead of burdening himself with thoughts of the future, he simply wants to indulge in some normal pleasures.
“I just want to have a Chinese meal, a can of coke and get some Haribo sweets. I haven’t had any sweets in ages and we weren’t able to get any in Tokyo.”