Kellie Harrington becomes double Olympic champion with performance of a lifetime in Paris
Harrington dominated China's Wenlu Yang in the final.
KELLIE Anne Harrington fell to her knees and looked to the heavens.
For the second Games in a row she was Olympic champion, something no Irish athlete had done since… well, since last week.
But before Paul O’Donovan it was Pat O’Callaghan in 1928 and 1932 and you know what they say about open top buses and all that.
“I didn’t think this was possible,” says Harrington.
“Thanks to the coaches here and back home and Mandy (wife), my brothers and my ma and da and close friends who kept me going even when I didn’t believe.
“And here I am. It’s a nice way to go out.”
Kenny Egan put the task she was attempting into context before the Games.
The 2008 Olympic medalist said Harrington would be spoken of in the same breath as the likes of Vasiliy Lomachenko or Ariel Hernandez if she prevailed.
She did it and now she will be.
No other Irish fighter has ever reached two Olympic finals and she now stands alone as the greatest Irish Olympic boxer of all time.
In Paris last night, the Irish descended on Roland Garros. Never before has the famed red clay been covered in so much green.
Much of it the green of Algeria for Imane Khelif who fought in the fight beforehand, beating Suwannapheng Janjaem convincing to book her place in the final.
There was plenty of Irish support too, including the likes of Armagh’s All-Ireland winning manager Kieran McGeeney.
Fans from all corners of the country they made the trip to see the Dubliner’s tilt at history. There were flags, scarves, banners and even berets.
When Monica Seles faced Steffi Graf in the 1992 French Open final here it took two hours and 43 minutes to separate them.
The final set alone took 91 minutes and 18 games, with Seles winning out 6-2, 3-6, 10-8 after an epic encounter.
Last night’s 60kg boxing final only took nine minutes, but it was every bit as enthralling, every bit as epic.
This was not the first time the Philippe-Chatrier court had hosted big-time boxing.
As far back as 1931 the venue’s centre court hosted the sweet science, with French pro Marcel Thil upsetting American Vince Dundee in a world middleweight title fight.
More recently, another local hero Tony Yoka fought Croatian Petar Milas here in 2021 with French president Emmanuel Macron in attendance and the remaining 2024 Olympic boxing bouts will all play out here.
After her last-16 win over Alessia Mesiano, Harrington said it was not about falling down, it was about getting back up again.
She was referencing her defeat to Serbia’s Natalia Shadrina in Belgrade in this year’s European semi-finals. It could also have applied to the trying year she has come through.
That defeat to Shadrina ended an astonishing 32-fight winning streak — but the 34-year-old as looked as good as ever in Paris. Back to her best. Back to doing what she does best.
She beat Mesiano and Angie Valdez comprehensively on the way to the semi-final and outclassed Brazil’s Beatriz Ferreira to reach last night’s final.
Out of sight, in the warm-up area, Harrington was going through her final preparations, her final pre-fight exercises and listening to the final instructions from coach Antia.
The TV cameras picked her out in the dressing room reading to herself as the minutes ticked down to the final.
Harrington looked incredibly focussed as she entered the ring just after 11pm local time on a sweltering night in Paris.
The roof was closed and the Philippe-Chatrier court was bathed in purple lighting, the red clay covered with grey carpet and blue canvas.
In Tokyo she walked out for the final against Sudaporn Seesondee to the sounds of Sinéad O'Connor singing The Foggy Dew.
She’d been listening to songs from Disney films like The Lion King and Hakuna Matata became her mantra, her design for life.
Last night she was in the blue corner, walking into the ring to the sounds of Zombie by the Cranberries and Roland Garros shook.
RTE pundit Eric Donovan had warned in the build-up that it would be "dangerous to underestimate" Wenlu Yang.
The Chinese fighter came into the final as the number one seed in the competition and had previous with Harrington.
When the pair faced at the World Championships in Azerbaijan in 2016 at 64kg over four two-minute rounds, it was Yang who got the majority decision.
Harrington was more accurate on that occasion, but Yang’s high tempo approach got the judge’s nod.
The 33-year-old had slipped down the rankings between 2018 and 2023, only to return to her best, winning World bronze and gold at the Asian Games.
Last night the tall southpaw was patient, stalking Harrington and tagging the Dubliner on the counter.
But Harrington was landing clean, crisp shots of her own and they were scoring with the judges.
Shouts of ‘Kellie, Kellie, Kellie’ rang out around the arena as she found her range and kept Yang at bay with her jab and kept out of danger.
The first round was relatively even, but the Dubliner caught Yang just before the bell and won the round 4-1.
Back in Diamond Park, in Dublin’s North Inner City, the locals had flocked once again to watch the local hero on the big screen.
Harrington is a huge presence in the area, a huge influence and inspiration to a younger generation.
For many years her image was on a billboard with the quote, ‘Anything is possible when push ourselves to the limit’.
On a sweltering night in Paris she pushed herself to the limit once again, showing the full range of her talents.
She made Yang miss, disguising her punches and connecting on the counter and always looking comfortable.
The judges gave her the second round too on another 4-1 score, leaving Yang needing a miracle for the final round.
Harrington, so composed, so controlled, was never going to let that happen.
At the final bell Harrington punched the air and the place erupted, before she danced around the ring with coach Zaur Antia.
Roland Garros had never seen the likes of it.
Boxing has been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons at Paris 2024 — from questionable judging, to eligibility rows and the attempted upstaging of the competition by the absent IBA.
For the Irish team it has been a Games to largely forget too with Harrington the only fighter to make the medals out of 10.
But last night, two fighters showed everything that is good about the sport, everything that makes the noble art still so compelling, so exhilarating. For all its faults.
Harrington was noblest of all and Olympic gold is coming home again.
Hakuna Matata. Up the flats.
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