Kellie Harrington fears for Irish boxing if the sport is left out of LA Olympics
The double gold medal champion also spoke of considering life as a boxing coach
Kellie Harrington says it will be "absolutely disastrous" if boxing is not at LA '28.
The sport has provided just under half of Ireland's total of 42 Olympic medals but is under serious threat of being left out of the next Games.
The IOC's refusal to work with the IBA - the controversial world body shut out of running the boxing competition in Tokyo and Paris after the corruption that was exposed in Rio eight years ago - has left boxing on the precipice.
READ MORE: Kellie Harrington crowned the Queen of Paris as she makes her exit centre court
READ MORE: Kellie Harrington becomes double Olympic champion with performance of a lifetime in Paris
Harrington confirmed her retirement from international boxing on Tuesday night after her 101st career fight - the lightweight final victory over Yang Wenlu - but afterwards spoke of her fear for the future of the sport in Ireland if the IOC go ahead with their plan.
The double Olympic champion was the only Irish boxer to medal in Paris - she won four times on the way to topping the podium, and Jack Marley was only one other bout winner aside from her.
But a record 10 Irish boxers qualified and, with the majority of that number debut Olympians in Paris, the IABA would hope to qualify another big squad for LA - if boxing is restored to the Games.
"I think it would be an awful shame for that to happen," Harrington said. "We need the Olympics for funding, basically.
"So many kids coming through who are screaming to go to the Olympics. That’s gold for some kids, you know. It would be absolutely disastrous if boxing wasn’t brought back for LA. I think it should be in.
"I think there are a few changes that need to be done for that, but absolutely...boxing is a massive part of the Olympic Games, especially for Ireland, so that would be a crying shame. I think everybody needs to do a little bit more to keep it there."
While Harrington won't be boxing as part of Ireland's elite boxing programme any more, she does want to use her experience to help younger athletes involved.
The Dubliner insisted that full-time coaching is not in her future, however. She revealed that she did consider making the move but that from observing Ireland's head coach Zaur Antia and his assistant coaches, it is an all-consuming profession.
"It’s not going to be taken away, because they’re not getting rid of me," she smiled. "I’m just not going to be boxing, but they’re not getting rid of me. They might think they are, but they’re not - they’re not that lucky!
"I want to stay around for the team. I believe that I have some good values that I can add to the team. I want to stay there and I want to help.
"I don’t want to be a coach, because it’s extremely hard. I did talk about wanting to become a coach - but it’s actually really, really hard. The work that our boxing coaches do, I am not kidding you, it’s just unbelievable.
"It’s 24/7, boxing, boxing, boxing. I know we get in and box and we’re the ones who have to fight, but they are doing pads.
"If we say we want to do pads at seven o’clock in the morning, they’re accommodating. They say, “OK, no problem”, because they want to keep you happy, they are up.
"These are people who have families, and they are giving everything so that the athlete can accommodate their dreams and their desires.
"That’s what makes the relationship special, is the fact that they are willing to give everything, basically in return for nothing."
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