An emotional Harry Garside apologised to Australia in a raw interview after his gold medal dream was dashed in a Round of 16 defeat to Hungarian Richard Kovacs on Monday.

Garside, who won bronze at Tokyo and had quit his career as a pro to focus on shooting for gold in Paris, went down via unanimous decision and spoke to Channel Nine after the defeat in an interview which James Bracey described as “hard to watch”.

In it Garside, who opened up earlier in the week about his battle with suicidal thoughts, said the “next month or two” would be “quite challenging”.

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“I feel pretty numb right now,” he said.

“I’m sure the next month or two will be quite challenging, quite hard. I fear for my mind, it gets a better of me. I feel like I’ve let myself down and let Australia down mate, but what do you do?”

Garside was reassured by the interviewer that the whole country was behind him, having captured the hearts of a nation since Tokyo, not just because of his talents inside the ring but also his unashamed willingness to embrace his authentic self.

The 27-year-old though said he wanted to apologise to those watching at home, adding he felt like a “failure” after the loss.

“Australia is such a sporting nation, and I’m so sorry,” he said.

“Honestly. I feel like a failure right now. I feel like … I don’t even know what to say.

“Thank you so much Australia. It really means a lot. I know sportsmen are just supposed to say the right things right now. And thank you so much but deep down inside, mate, I fear for what the next couple of months looks like for myself. And there’ll truly be some dark times, mate. I gotta prepare for that now.”

Garside finished his interview by thanking those who had been with him throughout his entire boxing journey, while also extending a timely message to young children watching at home who may have been inspired by his rapid rise in recent years.

“I’ve got to thank my coach. He’s been there since I was nine years old, 18 years in my corner, and I love that man to bit,” he said.

“My mum and dad. Everyone back home, 3140 Lilydale, all of Australia. The support I’ve had online is unbelievable.

“And I really thought that I could win that gold medal, but that’s a failure, right? That sport, that’s life. But I’ll get back up after a few months and see what’s next.

“Can I just say something to the kids out there? I was seven years old two decades ago when this dream started. The man that I’ve become on that journey over 20 years is unbelievable.

“And it’s just because I was inspired by that one moment. Grant Hackett. And so thank you, Grant Hackett, thank you to all the Olympians in the past, Australian Olympians, you’ve inspired me to go on a two-decade journey to be where I am now, and I’m so grateful for that.”