Shattered Harry Garside’s Olympic boxing dream ends after just nine minutes

• Tokyo medallist loses 63.5kg bout to Hungarian Richard Kovacs
• ‘I feel like a failure right now,’ says emotional Australian afterwards

There was boxer Harry Garside, on his haunches, crying and unable to speak. One of the Olympic team’s most magnetic personalities, a hero to his countrymen and women, processing the evaporation of a lifelong goal. He looked inconsolable, utterly alone, sprawled on the floor behind the North Paris Arena.

The 27-year-old had just lost his first-round bout in the men’s 63.5kg boxing. All it took was nine minutes for Garside’s golden dreams to end. Years of sweat spilled in gyms, of early mornings, nutrition advice, mind coaching, media appearances. “As an athlete, you put a lot of expectation on yourself and for the run to be over just like that, yeah, I feel like a failure right now,” he said.