Kellie Harrington’s gold medal win voted Ireland’s Magic Moment

Kellie Harrington’s gold medal win at the Tokyo Olympic Games has been voted Magic Moment of the Year by readers of Independent.ie Sport.

Harrington became Ireland’s third-ever boxing gold medal winner over the summer following in the footsteps of Michael Carruth and Katie Taylor.

The Dubliner’s performance in and out of the ring in Japan and the gold medal win, in particular, lifted the nation and was celebrated massively across the board.

Now having been voted Ireland’s Most Marketable Athlete, coming second in Ireland’s Most Admired Athlete and being nominated for RTE Sports Person of the Year as well as picking up numerous other yearly gongs, Harrington’s final win has been voted ‘Magic Moment of the Year’.

Discussing the win, Vincent Hogan, said: ” Commanding the rapt attention of your people has historically proved a millstone around Irish necks at that quadrennial flag-waving extravaganza known as an Olympics.

“Fear subsumes talent as the sheer scale of the Games settles around fragile ribcages, expectation suddenly becoming a terrible liability for athletes unused to such national commotion. The Olympics is a wreckers-yard for flustered champions, a high stage on which the vast majority become weighed down by inarticulate dread.

“Portland Row’s Kellie Harrington, of St. Mary’s BC, claimed the hearts of a nation when she won gold after a thrilling bout against fellow World Champion, Brazilian Beatriz Ferreira in Tokyo. She made it to the final after victories over Italy’s Rebecca Nicoli, Algeria’s Imane Khelif, and Thailand’s Sudaporn Seesondee.”