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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Episode 271 of Talking Bollocks brought to you by Gal Loud. It's me, Terry Flewett. It's me, C.O.B. And this week we're joined by... Aidan Walsh. Aidan, what's the crack, pal? How are you? I'm all good. Thank you very much for having me, lads. Thanks for coming on. Jesus Christ, it's a long time coming. I was saying to you when you came in, it's a hard one to get a hold of.
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Chapter 2: Why did Aidan Walsh retire from boxing at a young age?
Yeah, that's madness. It's crazy. That is madness. It's class as well.
Yeah.
What was it like for you then, you and your sister, competing at the highest level?
See, to be honest, I never really appreciated it until now. Even a few weeks ago, I put a clip on Instagram of me boxing. I never watched myself boxing back at all. And it's only now, looking back, and loads of photos, I'm looking and going.
we did that together you know and even people would say like jesus it's so hard to qualify it's so hard to even make it the olympics it's so hard to even make it on the national team to do that consistently on a consistent basis with your sister over like five six seven years like i'm only really taking it in now and actually looking at it going that was amazing that was actually really because i struggled so much throughout my career you didn't appreciate it and you didn't actually sit back and reflect and go this is actually amazing what you're doing until now you're like that was actually tough and that was actually really really important times in my life
Yeah. Look, Aidan, you were at the highest level in boxing. Like I said, you were a two-time Olympian. You won the bronze medal. It's not something that you really... When you're doing talks now, you speak about the psychology side of sports now and mental health and sports at the highest level. And you retired really young.
But I seen something on your Instagram a while ago and it was you telling a story of a French journalist coming up to you.
Yeah.
Will you tell us that story please?
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Chapter 3: How did Aidan break both his ankles celebrating a win?
And that's the way I was for most of my career. And when he said that to me, I was like, I've 100% made the right decision to step away from sport. Because... I genuinely was enjoying myself that trip. I had no pressure. I didn't want to go and compete. I didn't want to get in and train. I was just there. I was watching boxing. I was enjoying boxing for a first time in a very, very long time.
It's powerful, isn't it? Someone on the outside being able to see something like that.
Yeah. And see, even as soon as I stepped away, there was a period where I hadn't really been about boxing fights or I sort of stayed away and just sort of stayed in the background. Didn't even go near boxing gyms or nothing. And the first time that I went to boxing fights was in Belfast in the Irish Elite Championships. And a friend of mine hadn't seen me in a long time and he said to me, Aidan,
You're literally glowing. You actually look like a normal person again. He says, like, for a lot of your career, and something similar to that French story, you were gaunt looking, you were, you know, lethargic looking, dull, no energy. He says, you actually look, you look fresh. You look like you've been on holiday. I wasn't even on holiday or nothing. He says, you look like you're on holiday.
And I said, that's just no pressure, enjoying life, doing what I want to do, spending time with the people I want to spend with. And that was what sport was doing to me. And people say, Ian, why did you step away from sport at such a young age? Like, you could have went on to another two Olympics.
But when it's bringing you down that much, and it's not making you happy, you're giving up so much, and you're getting very little back. Like, I was winning fights, and I was getting out of the ring, and I was going, I want to go home. Like, I was at a tournament in Strangie, and I won two fights, and I was going to fight for a medal. And I was like, I want home. I had a breakdown.
I was like, just get me out of here. I just want home. People were like, what are you doing? The guy actually went on to win a medal at the Worlds right after it. Everybody was like, what are you doing, Aidan? No, you have to stay. I was like, no, I want to go home, and I just can't do it no more.
Went home, stepped away from sport, and then I was the winner, retired previously before the Olympics. But sport's hard, and I think people don't realise the amount of pressure and anxiety
that athletes are under like everybody in normal like mental health rates are massive in Ireland and when you go to elite sports the risks increase because of the pressures the anxieties do you know the demands that is on elite athletes is absolutely crazy especially nowadays with social media and phones and like
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Chapter 4: What was Aidan Walsh's experience like at the Olympics?
That's when I began to realise that if you're happy outside of sport, you're going to do a lot better in sport. And it was almost like people think, right, you need to get better at sport and you'll perform better. For me, it was if I become a better person outside the ring, I'm most definitely going to become a better boxer inside the ring. And I learned that through Paul.
And that was through being a bit more kinder to myself, a bit more softer, you know, a bit more easier on myself.
Yeah. But in fairness, like, how can we expect people to come forward and say, yeah, I need help? Because, as you said, you're on an elite team. Yeah. It's a team you can be replaced. Like, you will be dropped. So, like, it's so competitive. Yeah. And you're afraid to put your hand up and say, look, I'm actually struggling here. Yeah.
Because you're going to be like, right, well, if you're not doing it, the next fella will. Yeah. So, how can we expect people to come forward and be like, no, we actually need Aidan Walsh here to perform better rather than Aidan Walsh to make up the numbers?
Yeah.
And that's hard, isn't it? Because elite sports, it's all performance driven. It's all outcome based. And that's a challenge. And that's the part that I don't like about it. And that's why the work that I do now, not even only in elite sports, but in general, I really don't care about performance.
I know it's all right for me to say that because it's semi-performing, but I genuinely don't care about performance. See, as long as you're happy and you're fulfilled and you're able to go into sport and you're able to enjoy sport, that's a massive success. And I can say that wholeheartedly because I know it's true. I've seen athletes who have won
absolutely everything and they're so so unhappy and you know yourselves there's people about loads of money or so so it's what you do I think it's your purpose in life and what's your values I always go back to that with athletes what's your values what do you value in life I love kindness I love a bit of softness do you know what I mean I love that sort of what do you value what's your values especially when things get hard what do you value what do you stick to what type of person are you if you know that I don't think you can go too far wrong
Yeah, you were right with what you were saying though about like, the reason why we put kids into sport is because they learn these skills. So you were saying that like managing your emotions and tempo, but no one actually sits them down to do it. So it's like, oh, we can teach them discipline. Yeah, like you have to be here at this time and do this. That's discipline.
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Chapter 5: What lessons did Aidan learn about mental health in sports?
They have a good support network. they get on really well and they really love it. So I think as long as you love it and as long as you have a passion for something and you want to pursue it, I think that makes a difference.
But if she ever got to the point where it's like, I'm not enjoying it, I'm only doing it for the money or I'm only doing it for X, Y, or Z, then I would be saying, right, it's time to get out of it because... I stayed in it maybe two or three years longer than I really should have, to be honest. And I was doing it for that. You're on the funding. It's an easy lifestyle.
You're going to train and you don't have to work. You could be working in an office. So looking back, sometimes it takes courage just to say, you know what, enough's enough.
I'm going to step into what's next. And what is it with sport? Because sport has grown so much exponentially over the last, say, 50 years. There's not much at the top that they do differently. Like all the top athletes, they all train the same. They all eat the same. They all sleep the same. They're all measuring the same things. But it's just mentality.
There's certain different exercises that they do mentally. So what is it that's separating them at the top?
I think confidence is a massive one, which is important because if you have the belief that you can actually do so, it's not the be all and end all, but if you have the belief or you can turn on the belief in a short period of time when you're going to compete, I think you can definitely get a bit more out of yourself and you can last a bit longer.
Like say for instance in a fight, if you're going to do a fight with a bit of extra belief saying I can actually do this, surely it's going to help you, do you know? But one of the biggest things that I've seen, like self-talk, I know it sounds so cliche and so simple, but self-talk is a massive thing, particularly when you're going into a fight in a high-pressure environment.
Like if you look at your self-talk, if it's negative and it's down, it's hard to get the best performance out of yourself.
where like if you have good body language and good self-talk and I say this openly it's no secret like in any sport in sports psychology it's massive but if you have good self-talk and good body language you can do amazing things you know yourself when you wake up in the morning you put your shoulders back you look ahead you feel ready but if you turn your shoulders and you're looking down you know and you're crunched over
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