Irish Examiner view: Kellie’s golden performance

Another role model Olympic champion

Ireland's Kellie Harrington celebrates with her gold medal after defeating Beatriz Ferreira of Brazil in their women's lightweight final bout with at the Kokugikan Arena during the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Is modesty the new black? It seems as if it may be, as our Olympic gold medallists — yes, medallists — have responded to world-beating successes with restraint and by acknowledging how opportunity and endless work can stand for nothing unless fate smiles on their efforts. If oarsman Paul O’Donovan brought this reaction to almost Zen-like levels, then boxer Kellie Harrington, after she beat Brazillian Beatriz Ferreira in Tokyo, to become the second Irish woman to win gold in lightweight boxing, echoed his sangfroid.

Becoming only our third woman to strike gold, she said: “I never have any expectations coming into tournaments... That’s the thing. Come in and expect to perform... My expectation is performance...” It is sometimes risky to transfer an axiom from one setting to another, but, at this champagne moment, Harrington’s performance advice is as golden as her medal. Especially as champagne moments are so fleeting — and even more so as there is an acknowledged thread of redemption made possible by loyal, positive supporters in Kellie’s background. If modesty is the new black, then Kellie’s Dublin neighbours gave no indication they had embraced the idea just yet, when they, as the rest of the country did, celebrated what can only be seen as a victory for the very finest qualities — courage, endurance, clarity, and real purpose. Fashion may see these qualities in a cold light, but champions do not. Congratulations Kellie, take a bow: Take lots of bows.