![\"Olympic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1f098e3c-ade0-4aa9-b233-69b425d3db98.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWalsh collected her 14th National Elite title at the National Stadium on Saturday night, extending the all-time Irish record she set on her own last year when she moved one clear of Kellie Harrington.<\/p>\n
The west Belfast featherweight earned a unanimous decision against Sarah Cunningham. \u201cI really wanted not only to win this tournament, but I wanted to show that I\u2019m continuing to get better,\u201d confessed Walsh. \u201cI haven\u2019t won an international medal now in two years, so this year I really want to set my mark on the international scene.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still believe I have a lot left and I don\u2019t want to walk away from amateur boxing until I know I\u2019ve reached my full potential. I\u2019m not here to just be collecting titles. I\u2019m here to become a World and Olympic champion.\u201d<\/p>\n
But she confided that she was struggling mentally ahead of the Paris Games, which were to be her second after competing in Tokyo. \u201cBeing honest, I was going to walk away from boxing,\u201d said the 32-year-old. \u201cI think I\u2019ve found a way to enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her brother, Aidan, won Olympic bronze in Japan and had his own struggles with the sport but he made a successful late return to qualify for Paris. That development, plus the priceless input of psychologist Paul Gaffney, gave Michaela the impetus to carry on.<\/p>\n
Aidan\u2019s recent retirement has also helped her cause and he was ringside with her at the weekend. \u201cI\u2019m kind of lucky in the way because he\u2019s been able to put a lot of time and effort into me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Olympic bronze medallist Aidan Walsh and father Damian had been supporting Michaela Walsh in her preparations. Photo: David Fitzgerald\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve noticed that in my preparation, confidence, body language. I think it\u2019s added so much more to my game. He doesn\u2019t have to worry about himself now and I don\u2019t have to worry about him fighting.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew for a while it was coming. Aidan\u2019s not only a competitor and athlete, he\u2019s my baby brother. His mental health means a lot more to me than a medal.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s happy now and he\u2019s able to help me a lot. Having him with me is going to be a huge, huge bonus.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019m able to fully be me and to have the support of not only him but my dad there. Aidan put a lot of time into me over Christmas \u2013 it was tough and there were times I wanted to kill him.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut when you get good performances like that and I\u2019m boxing to the standard that I want to be boxing at, it\u2019s worth it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m in a great space now physically and mentally. I just want to carry that momentum into the rest of the year. If I lost tonight, I lost, so what?\u201d<\/p>\n
The heartbreaking death of another Belfast fighter, Paul McCullagh junior, after a short illness also brought perspective. \u201cAidan was good friends with Paul,\u201d Walsh said. \u201cI think it shows you there\u2019s more to life than boxing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you win, you win, if you lose, you lose. There\u2019s going to be someone after me. It gives you a bit of perspective on life. Aidan always says sport is usually a third of your life, for me it\u2019s two-thirds, I\u2019ve been doing it that long. Life\u2019s more important. As long as I\u2019m happy, I\u2019ll still be here trying to do the best I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Holy Family star knows that the LA Games are creeping ever closer, but insisted: \u201cI\u2019m not focussing on Olympics, Olympics, Olympics.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore, I always set my mind that I have to be an Olympic champion and then, if you don\u2019t reach that, you feel worthless in a way. That\u2019s not what life\u2019s about.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to live in the moment, take it fight by fight. If I achieve something at that level, I do achieve it. I\u2019m proud of my career, no matter what. If I won and got my 14th title, or didn\u2019t and won 13, it\u2019s special.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt takes the pressure off as well, just to enjoy it. Especially with Paul, just enjoy life while you\u2019re still here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Walsh collected her 14th National Elite title at the National Stadium on Saturday night, extending the all-time Irish…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":419139,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,17141,82],"class_list":["post-419138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-latest-news-ticker","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/419139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}