DOUBLE GOLD – Olympic Champion Kellie Harrington makes history
Game, set, and match – Kellie Harrington won the right to call herself Ireland’s greatest boxing Olympian with a historic gold medal win at the home of the French Tennis Open, Roland Garros tonight.
The dancing darling of Dublin became Ireland’s first ever back-to-back boxing gold medal winner courtesy of another brilliant Paris performance in front of a partisan Irish following at the famous venue.
The Portland row punch picker defeated number 1 seed Wenlu Yang of China to retain the 60kg Olympic title.
The St Mary’s BC fighter, who joined Micheal Carruth and Katie Taylor as Olympic gold medal winners and went on her own as a double pugilist podium topper, had too much by way of skill fight, flair, and fantastic talent for the Asian champion.
It’s the crowning moment of a sensational Olympic 2024 innings for the Dub and indeed potentially a sensational amateur career.
The 34-year-old deliberately tip-toed into the tournament, trying to make as little noise as possible. Considering she qualified for the Games a year out and suffered a first defeat in over 30 fights in her last bout before the tournament gloved off, there was an air of mystery surrounding her form ahead of Paris.
All was quickly revealed, however, as she put in some of her career-best performances en route to the final. Alessia Mesiano fell first, Angie Paola Valdes was similarly outclassed before world-professional champion Beatrice Fereria was brilliantly denied the chance to avenge the Tokyo final defeat, as Harrington put on a masterclass to make history.
Harrington defeated Yang to become the most successful athlete in Ireland’s most successful Olympic sport.
The first round was a high-level chess match. A combination landed by Harrington and a shot as they pulled apart 90 seconds in seemed to give Harrington an advantage in a tit-for-tat stanza and a one-two right on the bell all but cemented a 4-1 first-round win.
With advantage, Harrington was never going to all it to be deuce by the end of the second. The Irish star was fluid and full of feints early in the stanza, scoring in, in and out of fashion. The 34-year-old fought fire with fire in the brief moments she needed and scored a big right with a minute to go in a close round that was scored 3-2 in her favour.
Up on three cards going into the last all Harrington had to avoid disaster to secure victory, To her credit she still went about trying to win the session and did that with some brilliant combination punching, boxing brilliantly over the Olympic finish line.
After the 4-1 victory pure joy took over the arena and indeed the ring as Harrington turned the square circle into a dance floor.
