“Why did you lose the boxing?” It was the first question of a public Q&A forum at the Laurieton Hotel on Saturday afternoon. This was asked by a girl, aged about four, and certainly broke the ice at the official welcome home for Olympian Shelley Watts.
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Shelley answered this question and many others from the floor, from grown-ups and children alike.
After an introduction by her proud uncle Anthony Watts, who MC’d the event, and a message from mayor Peter Besseling, Shelley spoke about the first round loss, life in the Olympic village and what’s next including her hope for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and Tokyo 2020.
“You have to take the good with the bad and I always say it’s never a loss, it’s always a lesson. That’s easy to say but not easy to implement but I’m trying hard,” Shelley told another young audience member.
Following the games, Shelley was selected as one of eight athletes on the Athletes’ Commission which advises the Australian Olympic Committee on all matters relating to the Olympic movement leading up to the Tokyo 2020 Games.
The appointment is an important one for Shelley, to remain focused on her boxing career ahead. Her sights are set on qualifying for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018 and the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
“The Commonwealth Games is important to me because it’s in Australia and means my family can come and watch which will mean the world to me,” Shelley said.
Hear Shelley’s answers to the many questions at the welcome home event, from boxing to flushing the loo in Rio, in the video below. There are also plenty of photos from the event below.
Kate Dwyer
Journo. Wife. Mother of three.
Journo. Wife. Mother of three.
