Charlie Cavanagh started boxing at age 12. She’s represented Canada at international competitions and brought home medals, and she wants the public to remember that there’s a person behind the elite athletes on TV.
“We’re hyper aware of the eyes that are on us and, after a poor performance, you get a lot of negative comments or feedback, and I think some people don’t realize that, you know, we read your comments,” she said.
“A lot of us have thousands and thousands of followers on social media, but we’re people, were human.”
Earlier this year Cavanagh announced her retirement from boxing in a post to her Instagram account. The Saint John resident said she’s happy to be back home.
“I have a soft spot for New Brunswick and I’m just so happy to be home and enjoying my retirement.”
Cavanagh said some of the competitive pressures inherent to boxing can cause particular challenges for youth.
“I started boxing when I was 12 years old. It’s a big time for girls, we’re going through a lot of changes our bodies, and a lot of us are really uncomfortable to begin with but when you start throwing in little things like ‘you’re four pounds overweight,’ or ‘you need to cut six pounds’…in the moment, you know, That sort of became ingrained in my mind and I felt like I needed to constantly be at or below my fighting weight,” she said.
“I’ve spoken openly about the effects that that had on my body. I lost my period for a while. My hair was falling out. It wasn’t healthy. And I think that the boxing organizations could do a lot more to help athletes by not encouraging them to fight at lighter weight classes.”
Cavanagh has been open about her experiences with eating disorders online.
“if I had seen someone sharing similar content when I was at that young and impressionable age, it likely would have helped me and I probably would have gotten help for my eating disorder a lot sooner,” she said. “I started boxing when I was 12 and I struggled with these problems up into my adult life, and I didn’t seek help until I was 22 years old.”
Cavangh said boxing taught her a lot of life lessons.
“From boxing, I established my determination and my work ethic and I came out of my shell a lot. I used to be extremely shy and and not very confident about my body,” she said. “Since sort of being in the limelight through sport, I’ve become a lot more confident and I think that that’s something I always want to take with me…being proud of the person I am.”
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