Aidan and his sister, Michaela Walshbecame the first siblings to box at the same Olympic Games, at Tokyo 2020.
Fighting in Northern Ireland colours, the duo both won gold medals at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and are expected to box together again at Paris 2024.
Michaela’s career has continued to shine since then, and she secured another Olympic quota for Ireland at the 2023 European Games.
However, Aidan’s mental and physical health issues meant that he took a break from the sport before retiring, and it looked like his Paris 2024 dream was over.
But with the help of his family and sports psychologists, he got back into training and convinced the national team coaches to select him for this Paris 2024 World Qualification Tournament.
“My sister’s my role model. I’ll never reach the heights she’s reached. “She was unfortunate in Tokyo, but she’s doing absolutely amazing,” continued Aidan Walsh.
“I’m looking forward to seeing her this week and for me, I don’t really care if I qualify for not as long as she’s qualified and I hope that she gets her medal.
“Obviously I would love to join her, but at the same time I would love to see her win an Olympic medal, and that’s partly why I’m back to get a free ticket to Tokyo!”
“The Olympics changed my life, and I will be forever grateful to the Olympic Games because it’s something that I will remember for the rest of my life.
“The help and support that I got after that was absolutely amazing, and I was surrounded by good people. I’m just happy to be back in boxing and just loving sport again.
“My main motivation now is just to be here and enjoy sport. Whether I win, lose or draw, I just want to compete to my best.”