Joe Ward says the pain of missing out on the London 2012 Olympic Games lived with him for nearly four years.
And now that he has qualification for Rio 2016 already in the bag he is concentrating on winning gold.
“I’m not going there to make up numbers. I’m going there to be Olympic champion - that’s my ambition,” he stated.
The 22-year-old Moate boxer was tipped by many as a potential winner in the light heavyweight division at the London Games.
But his dreams came apart when, still a teenager, he suffered a shock defeat - his first at elite level - at the last 16 stage in the 2011 World Championships in Baku.
“Getting that qualification out of the way was massive and a huge relief.” - Joe Ward
He then lost in the final qualifying tournament in Turkey after getting the draw from hell against local fighter Bahram Muffafffer, who was awarded a hugely controversial home-town decision.
“I watched most of those Games and it wasn’t a nice place to be, at home watching them,” said Ward (pictured above with fellow world medalists Michael O'Reilly and Michael Conlan last year), who wrapped up qualification this time around with a silver medal at the worlds last October.
“It hurt me, even though I was delighted for the lads doing so well. It wasn’t to be and I knew this time around I was going to make it right.
“I got more mature. At 17-years-old you feel like you can just go and get it, but you learn that it’s not that easy and that you have to work hard to get there.
“You have to put in a lot of hours in the gym to get your rewards because you can’t just switch it on like a light.”
Ward is one of Ireland’s leading medal prospects and this has brought plenty of attention from boxing’s professional ranks.
Big name promotors tried to turn his head after he failed to make the plane to London, but he says he was never going to leave the unpaid ranks before he boxed in a Olympics.
“It stuck with me. It was hanging over me for four years, always there and it was something I had to come back and do,” he explained.
“I could very easily have gone professional, I had the offers to go professional from a number of promotors after London, but it’s something I always wanted to do. I felt like this is my time to do it - I’m older now and it’s my time to grab the opportunity with both hands.
“It was massive for me. It was always hanging over me and I always just wanted to get to the Olympic Games - it’s something I always dreamed about.
“Getting that qualification out of the way was massive and a huge relief.”
Accord to Ward he is more mature now - in and out of the ring. He is certainly a more poised fighter and at home he has two children, Joe (4) and Jerry (2) with his partner Julianne.
“When I go boxing I’m able to switch on the boxing and when I go home I switch off and be part of a family,” he said.” It’s probably something that’s good for me.
“When I come back from the Olympic Games I’ll probably be able to settle back in to reality pretty quick.
“If you have no family or kids it might be a bit harder to switch off, but when I go home I have two kids that I know will make me switch off. It brings you back to reality when you’re chasing them about the house and it’s great.
“It’s great to have kids and to be settled down because it makes you more mature.”
