Chantelle Reid ready to inspire at Paris 2024

By Paul Martin

Chantelle Reid has made up for lost time at a rapid rate since returning to the ring and wants to be a household name by the time she concludes her Olympic mission.

Reid comes from a family of boxers and was a European youth champion before spending six years out the sport due to a back injury.

She made her return in 2022 and progressed quicker than anticipated, punching her Paris ticket with victory at the first Olympic qualification event in Italy in March.

Now officially selected as part of the six-strong Team GB boxing squad heading across the Channel, Reid is looking to keep the middleweight gold in British hands following Lauren Price’s Tokyo triumph.

“Once I’m at the Games, I’ll be a bit more known,” she said. “At the moment, people are thinking ‘who is this girl?’.

“I just want to go out there, show my talent and hopefully inspire girls who may have pulled away from the sport - or any sport - to show them it’s not too late.

“I’ve just turned 26, so if you’ve had a couple of years out, you can come back and accelerate.

“I’m targeting a medal, I’ve trained too hard to do anything else.”

Reid, who has been sparring with the likes of Price and Caroline Dubois in the build-up to the Games, will benefit from the Nearest & Dearest programme in Paris.

The initiative helps maximise support and minimise potential distractions for athletes so that they can focus on their performance and make the most of the unique opportunity to compete on one of the world’s largest stages.

And the 26-year-old revealed it was the influence of her younger brother Duane which proved crucial in inspiring her own comeback.

“My brother was boxing competitively at a national level and I helped my dad corner his last fight,” she said.

“The adrenaline came back and I decided to start sparring, gradually coming back in.

“Doing it correctly, with the right S&C and training plan, my back didn’t cause me any problems, so I thought if it’s not going to get in the way, let’s go for it.

“Everyone has welcomed me and I have a great team around me, who fully believe in me. From day one, the coaches have been saying ‘you’re going to qualify’. To start with, I was like ‘am I?’.

“But the team we have here, I couldn’t have asked for anything more. Having that support around me is making everything possible.”

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