Leah-Beth Anderton: “The Olympics are the goal. I see myself doing more than one Olympics.”

Leah-Beth Anderton: “The Olympics are the goal. I see myself doing more than one Olympics.”

Most fighters dream of competing on the Olympic stage. But Leah-Beth Anderton is different. Her dreams go way beyond that. It’s not only a desire to stand on that Olympic podium, Anderton wants to do it more than once and in two completely different sports.

Born in Hornsby, New South Wales, the 18-year-old is already looking well into her future. Anderton is in her fourth and final year studying law honours. Anderton is currently working in a law firm as a paralegal but will be fully qualified next year.

But alongside endless hours of studying and more, Anderton competes for her country at an elite level in boxing, and if that wasn’t enough to fill her time, she still keeps her hand in another sporting domain.

Anderton is six years into her eventing career. It’s a life that has been somewhat put on hold, at least at the highest level. But her dreams of making it to the Olympics in eventing as well as boxing very much remain. The initial entry into one sport came by way of another.

“I started by doing boxing for some extra fitness for my horse riding,” Anderton told me over Zoom. “My brother was boxing at the local boxing club, and I went along just for the fitness classes. But I just started doing more and more. I then started fighting for fun, I wasn’t serious or anything about it. I didn’t start off that well; I had a few losses. But then I started to get a bit of traction, and I built up a bit of a win streak.”

Despite those early defeats, there were no thoughts of walking away from boxing. “I just loved the sport and the training. What I get out of boxing isn’t just about wins or losses. It’s more about what it does mentally for me and how much I enjoy it.”

The schedule of Leah-Beth Anderton is beyond busy. “Chaotically is a good way of putting it,” Anderton says of her hectic life. “I don’t like having free time.”

Anderton started her sporting endeavours at a very early age. “I started doing ballet when I was four,” Anderton told FightPost. “I did that for six months, but I hated it by the end of it. They couldn’t get me to go anymore. My brother was doing taekwondo, and my dad said put me in that. Looking back, I was four, and I was dressed like a marshmallow. I stopped that for horse riding when I was about twelve, and I went into it pretty full-on. I started boxing when I was fourteen, and I had my first fight the following year. I got into school quite early, so I got ahead, and I finished school during Covid when I was fifteen.”

Anderton is now twenty-odd fights into her boxing career. Success has come incredibly quickly for her. Already a national champion, Anderton has already claimed a bronze medal at the U19 World Championships. Only the second Australian female to win a medal at that level. With hopes of making the Australian Olympic squad for Los Angeles in 2028, Anderton is intent on building on her already impressive resume. There are immediate ambitions of qualifying for the World Amateur Championships in Liverpool in September and the Commonwealth Games next year in Glasgow.

If Anderton does make it to Liverpool later this year, it will give her the opportunity for a family reunion. “All of my family is in the UK,” Anderton relayed to me. “My parents moved over to Australia just before I was born. I’ll be able to catch up with them as well.”

There are thoughts of a professional career in the coming years, but Leah-Beth Anderton is seemingly fully committed to the amateur ranks, at least, for the foreseeable future and a place on the biggest stage of them all. “I have always wanted to go to the Olympics. I still wanted to go to the Olympics in eventing as well. The Olympics are the goal. I see myself doing more than one Olympics. It’s always where I have wanted to go. But ultimately, I just want to better myself through the sport. I want to make a positive impact and be a positive role model, especially for other females.”