Ivy-Jane Smith hopes her push towards a place at next year’s Paris Olympics will continue to help shift perceptions and blaze a trail for young Romany and traveller girls to pursue careers in elite sport.
Like girls in her community, Smith left school at the age of 13, but was encouraged by her parents to continue her successful junior boxing career, which has lifted the Dorset light-flyweight to the brink of a place at the Games.
