By Will Jennings in Paris

Proud Chantelle Reid says she will cherish her Olympian status for the rest of her life after making a memorable debut in Paris.

The Derby boxing star, 26, was forced to take six years out of the sport after a degenerative disc injury struck when she was just 17.

But after completing a remarkable recovery to book her place on the Team GB train to France, Reid delivered a battling display as she was narrowly beaten in her 75kg bout by reigning world champion Khadija Mardi.

In a closely-contested fight, Reid rallied all the way and came within a whisker of edging through as she lost on a tight 3:2 split decision.

But she took huge confidence from a nerveless Olympic debut and hopes it can lay the foundations for the next four-year cycle heading into Los Angeles 2028.

“I feel so blessed to have qualified and be boxing the best in the world,” she said.

“I’m grateful to be here with the best team, best coaches and best support staff.

“I couldn’t have asked for anything more, so I feel grateful to be an Olympian and that’s not going to be taken away from me.

“That title will stay with me for the rest of my life.

“I’ve become an Olympian, I’m proud of myself for putting in the graft, performance and that’s all I can do.

“I felt good going into that ring and honestly, I’ve never walked in feeling so much confident, ready and that I was going to get the win.

“I really enjoy being on Team GB – I haven’t been on here long so another four years on the programme isn’t out of the picture.

“Me and the coaches will watch the fight back, see what we can improve on, learn from it and move on.”

Reid was the fifth Team GB boxer to crash out in Paris as a run of being on the wrong end of tight-looking decisions continued.

Heavyweight Delicious Orie, who was heavily tipped to follow in the footsteps of Anthong Joshua and grab gold before going professional, was crestfallen after his controversial defeat against rangy Armenian Davit Chaloyan on Monday night.

And 24 hours earlier, welterweight Rosie Eccles was left shell-shocked after suffering a similarly contentious decision against powerful Pole Aneta Rygielska.

Reid refused to criticise any of the decisions and insists there is no sense of injustice in the British boxing camp.

“It’s not bad luck at all,” said Reid, who is over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing them to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support.

“We’ve all been so supportive of each other and give each other so much respect.

“We’ve been there for each other, we’re a close team and bad luck isn’t one of the feelings we’ve got.

“All the team and support staff have been so supportive of me and have been there 100 per cent.”

With more than £30M a week raised for Good Causes, including vital funding into elite and grassroots sport, National Lottery players support our Olympic and Paralympic athletes to live their dreams and make the nation proud, as well as providing more opportunities for people to take part in sport. To find out more visit: www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk