Hannah Robinson: Primed For Olympic Glory & Beyond

Hannah Robinson: Primed For Olympic Glory & Beyond

Earlier this year Hannah Robinson seemed set on joining the professional ranks. Everything was in place, the announcement seemed imminent. Frustrated by the lack of opportunities as an amateur, Robinson had made her mind up. But then she got what she had previously been denied. There was always talent and potential, the Darlington fighter just needed her opportunity. Now she has it.

A long-time Team GB stalwart, Robinson struggled in the shadows, longing for the spotlight. A two-time National Champion, it should have come sooner. But now with the belated but deserved call up to the Podium squad, over Zoom, Robinson told me why she had put on hold her professional aspirations:

“It was getting that opportunity to go full time with Team GB. I’d worked so hard to get on Team GB and I never felt I had got that experience that I could have done. So when they offered me that full-time position I thought it was worth staying and trying to get to the next Olympics and build up my profile.”

Everything is different now for Robinson. The lack of fights, the lack of anything, is now a thing of the past. The time spent in the shadows has been replaced by a position of priority. Robinson told me she is being primed for potential Olympic glory in 2024:

“I get a wage off them every month. I’m the number one at my weight so that means they will be sending me to the international tournaments, they are priming me for the next Olympics. I’ll be getting all those opportunities now and getting all that experience and going to the major tournaments as well.”

The Team GB set-up is relentless. Many fighters tell me it is not for them. Regimented, always having to be on or near weight, it can take its toll physically and mentally. Robinson had her struggles, but a move up in weight, coming alongside her move to the Podium squad, has changed everything for her:

“I’ve moved up to 66kg. I didn’t think it had affected me so much. I think that was what was making me so miserable before on Team GB, having to be at that weight consistently. When you are a pro and you have a full camp and you have a day before weigh-in, lightweight wouldn’t be so much of a problem. But as an amateur, they want you within 5% all the time and they are weighing you every single morning and I was really struggling to make the weight. But now I have moved up I feel loads happier now. I feel as though I am fuelling my training, I feel strong, feel good at the weight. I’ve got loads of energy and it is all going well at the minute.”

Living and training with fighters who are after your place on the team can be hard. Cliques are formed, and trust can come at a cost. Robinson concedes it is a unique environment:

“I think the whole Team GB environment is quite strange. You are living with the people that you are competing for that spot with. It is an individual sport but you go away as a team. It is strange because you are rivals and you are expected to spar against each other and live together.”

Fighters badly need activity, no fights, no momentum. Robinson knows this better than most. Thoughts of turning professional were born out of the lack of opportunities. The politics of her sport didn’t help, but when Covid shook up the world, Robinson was frozen out in many ways. But the time away has helped for what lies ahead. Sparring and developing alongside world champions, Robinson now sees the benefits of that past frustration:

“I have been hit bad by Covid and the postponement of the last Olympics. I had got on the squad and then Covid hit and then the team that was going to Tokyo was then prioritised so I never really got a look in. But then after Tokyo, they said we will put you on full time but then that kept getting pushed back I kept getting reassessed to be on the squad. It was really frustrating at the time but looking back I improved so much from going around all the professional gyms sparring the likes of Chantelle Cameron and Natasha Jonas and working with my new coach and just developing my boxing. Just making myself better and learning from all the pro’s like Tash. I feel now if they had put me on full-time straight away I would have missed out on all that. I was frustrated at the time but now I am so grateful I went through all that.”

A life as a professional is now always there to fall back on. The option is there at any time, and you sense it has settled Robinson mentally. Free from pressure and a lack of options, it is a different Robinson now as she embarks on that chase for an Olympic medal:

“I’ve approached Team GB with a different mindset now. I was going to turn pro, I had made my mind up. But because I have that to fall back on I am now not putting any pressure on myself. I’ve moved up a weight and that has made me happier. So I am going in there now giving my all, getting the experience and enjoying the journey of it forever how long it lasts and then I will be ready to make my move in the pro’s.”

Robinson 27, was back in action last month, a gold medal around her neck in a tournament in Bulgaria, a little bit of ring rust, and a few nerves, accumulated since November have now gone. A split-decision win in her only bout in Sofia got Robinson up and running again. But there are bigger things already ahead. Confirmation of selection for the upcoming European Championships in Montenegro soon followed. A touch of relief is now one of excitement for her first major competition on the international stage:

“Because I hadn’t boxed since the ABAs in December I thought I would get three good fights out here, but I got a bye straight into the finals. I was a bit nervous as well because I hadn’t boxed for so long. If I had boxed the next day I would have been a bit more settled down. But it is now a quick turnaround for the European Championships. I’m really excited for that, it is my first really big tournament. I’ve never really tested myself on this sort of stage before, it is my first major, but it will be a big opportunity for me to test myself and see how far I can get. We have had China, Germany and France over this week for sparring. We have got a full week of training next week before we fly out the following week.”

If inactivity dominated the last few years, the next few years will be anything but. Qualification for Paris starts next year, a flat-out schedule before hopefully, an Olympic medal in Paris. Win or lose on the Olympic stage, it will be the last amateur tournament for Robinson before that delayed entry into the world of professional boxing:

“It will be Paris and then I’m done. I’m going to go for Paris. If Team GB hadn’t given me these opportunities, and I wasn’t in the running and I hadn’t moved up a weight I would have just turned pro. But I might as well stay amateur for now and get these opportunities while I can. If I do go to the Olympics and go to all these tournaments it will help build my profile and when I do turn pro it will be a whole lot easier.”

What nearly happened earlier this year will happen in 2024. An Olympic medal of any description will add value to her signature on her professional contract. But either way, the professional ranks will have another exciting and talented addition once Paris is in the rear-view mirror. But it is, for now, an Olympic medal that Robinson is chasing. Her long wait for her chance is over, and the upcoming European Championships will give us a little more indication of her chances in Paris. But after all the frustrations of the past, you feel that Robinson is only just getting started. The queue for her signature on a professional contract is likely to be a long one.