Harry Garside’s serious hand injury did not stop him winning a bronze for Australia

Harry Garside became one of Australia’s sporting cult heroes at this year’s Olympic Games and it can now be revealed that he was carrying a serious injury on his way to a bronze medal.

Boxer Harry Garside has emerged from his bronze medal boxing triumph at the Tokyo Olympics with a story of remarkable sporting courage.

The Saturday Telegraph can reveal the 24-year-old boxer secretly – and painfully – concealed a fracture in his hand that has now forced him to undergo surgery.

Garside needed injections, approved on anti-doping lists from Australian team medico Dr David Hughes, to continue fighting during the Games.

Hzarry Garside was one of the big hits of the Australian team at the Tokyo Olympics. Picture: Adam Davy/PA Images

Not a word was said about it.

From his hospital bed in Melbourne, Garside revealed how he had carried the injury for months prior to the Games and how it flared up during his second bout in Tokyo.

The ex-ballet dancer showed incredible pain tolerance to fight on.

“I hurt it early this year,” Garside said. “I knew the Olympics were coming up, I got scans but kept it really secret. I couldn’t tell anyone.

Garside in action in Tokyo. Picture: Adam Head

“From March until June I was just shadow boxing and running.

“It’s not an ideal way to train for the Olympics and it started to get to me mentally.

“We went to America in June and I was able to start throwing punches again. We did some sparring and contact work.

“But then it went on me again in my second fight and blew up like a balloon.

“I was really concerned but the doctors were fantastic. I had to keep going.

“Once you’re in the ring you go hell for leather. The adrenaline gets you through. You don’t even think about pain.”

Garside has had surgery to repair his hand.

Garside fought with the fracture in Tokyo.

Garside refuses to use the injury as an excuse for losing his semi-final.

“It didn’t affect me and I don’t want to be one of those athletes making excuses,” he said. “I lost the semi-final because I wasn’t good enough. Andy Cruz, the Cuban, was absolute class. He’d have beaten me if I’d had two ­normal hands.”

The injury is known in sports medicine as “boxer’s knuckle”, the same fracture that sidelined heavyweight champion Justis Huni and ruined his Olympic dream after his fight with Paul Gallen.

The injury is to tendons, ligaments and joint cartilage around the knuckle on ­Garside’s left hand.

Garside with his bronze medal. Picture: Buda Mendes/Getty Images

He is hoping to fight again early next year and is now weighing up his future and offers to turn professional.

“I think it’s time to turn pro,” he said. “I’ve done the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics.

“You’ve got to think about putting food on the table. I’m 24 but I’ve got to start thinking about what my life’s going to be like at 54.

“Financially, it’s tough as an ­amateur.

“You rely on your passion and love for the sport.”

Originally published as Harry Garside’s serious hand injury did not stop him winning a bronze for Australia