Kellie Harrington makes statement in Paris Olympics opener

SIMPLY RED: Kellie Harrington of Team Ireland, right, in action against Allesia Mesiano of Team Italy. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

It took just nine minutes for Kellie Harrington to firmly dispel any doubts about her form as she opened her Olympic campaign with victory in the 60kg round-of-16 at the North Paris Arena this afternoon.

Though in truth, it was clear long before the final bell that the reigning Olympic champion was back to her brilliant best.

This was a masterclass from the seasoned veteran of the Irish team, taking a tricky opponent to school across the three rounds with a foot-perfect display, one in which the 34-year-old looked as slick, agile and precise as ever.

Harrington simply had too much guile and class for Italy’s Alessia Mesiano, winning it on a unanimous 5-0 score to advance to the quarter-final on Wednesday.

“I felt alright in there, I was trying to implement the tactics that were being given to me by the corner,” she said.

“We had a good plan going in and the plan worked so, yeah, it felt good. The key was to get my jab working and implement my fight.”

Harrington started as she meant to go on, her lightning speed and pinpoint precision leaving Mesiano chasing shadows in the first round, which the Dubliner won 5-0, and from there on the masterclass continued from the Tokyo gold medallist.

Mesiano changed her approach in the second round, knowing she needed to chase the fight, the Italian stepping forward and becoming the aggressor. But Harrington was measured in defence, picking off shots with the clinical manner that has defined her greatness while ducking out of trouble any time it threatened, switching between southpaw and orthodox and landing one especially big shot on the Italian’s chin. She took the round 5-0.

From there, Harrington just had to avoid disaster, though the 34-year-old did plenty more in the third round, utterly outclassing her opponent to advance, the Dubliner now just one win shy of her second Olympic medal.

“This is what I love,” said Harrington. “It was a fantastic fight. Alessia is a really smooth operator so it was great to get in there and take the win.”

In April, Harrington endured her first loss for three years, beaten in the semi-final at the European Elite Championships in Belgrade but she had no doubts about her ability on the path to Paris.

“You have to fall to get back up,” she said. “If you didn’t get back up you may as well stay down. It’s only a loss if you don’t learn from it, and hopefully I learned from it.”

Harrington has said she plans to retire from international boxing after the Olympics but on the evidence of this, she will have a few more days in the limelight before she reaches that point.

She is on course to meet Beatriz Ferreira in the semi-final, the Brazilian who she beat to win Olympic gold three years ago and who is the reigning world champion.