Boxer’s Olympic dream re-ignited by Primary School return
PARIS 2024 Olympian, Chantelle Reid, has returned to the World Class Programme (WCP) for boxing and rejoined the GB Boxing squad.
The 27-year-old from Derby is in contention for selection for the forthcoming World Boxing Championships 2025 in Liverpool in September and has set her long-term sights on competing at a second Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028 (LA28).
Her decision to return to Olympic-style boxing rather than pursue a career in the professional ranks followed a recent visit to Stenson Fields Primary School in Derby.
Chantelle explained: “I was recently invited into my old primary school to be a part of their assembly and tell my story, which was really special especially because it was with my year four teacher, Mrs Faulkner. She asked the children if anyone has a dream and 99 per cent of the pupils raised their hands. It was a really emotional moment for me because I was sat there at one point with a dream which was to become an Olympic champion.
“I explained I was turning professional, and she couldn’t believe that, at 27, I wouldn’t be going for another Olympic cycle. That moment really made me reflect — the Olympics has always been my dream, and this is my last chance to go again and get a gold medal.”
GB Boxing’s Performance Director, Rob McCracken said: “It is a big boost to the WCP to see a boxer of Chantelle’s ability and achievements return to GB Boxing. It means that all three of the women (Charley Davison, Rosie Eccles and Chantelle Reid) that qualified for Paris are back in our squad and gives us a strong base to work with as we look forward to LA28.
“Chantelle has continued to train and stay in good condition and will be a candidate for selection for the World Boxing Championships in Liverpool in September 2025. We do have other boxers around her weight, so we will need to assess them all, but Chantelle has a proven track record at the highest level and will certainly be in contention for Liverpool.”
On the possibility of competing at a world championship on home soil, Chantelle added: “Looking ahead to the World Championships in September, I’d love to be selected — if I’m deemed ready. I don’t enter competitions just for experience, especially not at that level. I compete to win. I’ve been sparring with top Olympians while I’ve been out, and I feel more than ready to get back in the ring.”
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Chantelle began boxing at a young age and won gold at the 2014 European Junior Boxing Championship and bronze a year later at the World Youth Championship before a back injury forced her to quit the sport for six years.
She returned to the ring in 2023 and in less than 12 months Chantelle won the 2023 England Boxing National Amateur Championships which earnt her a place in the GB Boxing squad in October of the same year.
Less than six months later in February 2024, she secured qualification for Paris in the middleweight category (75kg) when she defeated Uzbekistan’s Aziza Zokirova in the quarter finals at the First World Qualification Tournament in Italy.
At Paris 2024, Chantelle was drawn against the reigning world champion, Khadija Mardi of Morocco, in the round of 16 and despite delivering an excellent performance, she lost out on a narrow 3-2 split decision.
Since Paris, Chantelle has been training at her hometown club in Derby with her father and brother who are both former boxers. Her first training camp back in the GB Boxing gym was in the second week of July. As a funded member of Great Britain’s Olympic boxing programme, she will train from Monday to Thursday as part of the elite Podium squad, and travel to competitions and training camps around the world, as part of the GB Boxing squad.
