Roland-Garros a fitting stage for Kellie Harrington’s greatest day

FOCUSED ON GOLD: Ireland’s Kellie Harrington will take to the ring at Roland Garros in the 60kg final in search of retaining her Olympic title. Picture: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

There is something about this place. As an emotional Novak Djokovic turned his back to the net and celebrated his biggest sporting success last Sunday, Roland Garros had already started to move on. Rackets and balls make way for leather and canvas.

Philippe‑Chatrier Court has already been transformed to host five nights of boxing finals, starting on Tuesday when Kellie Harrington defends her crown from Tokyo. It is a fitting stage for a historic sporting moment and a welcome improvement on the dull Paris Nord Arena on the outskirts of town that hosted boxing before this.

The first fight on Tuesday will be the men’s 71kg semi-final with Harrington’s showdown with People’s Republic of China’s Yang Wenlu the last contest of the night (10.06pm Irish time).

It gives organisers under 36 hours to protect the playing surface, build the ring in the 15,000-capacity stadium, adjust the technical operation for TV broadcasts and erect freestanding screens. Given the essential security checks and run-through requirements, the actual setup time is considerably less.

All of which matters little to the Dubliner. “Someone else just said that to me,” she said after her semi-final when asked about the venue. “To be quite honest, I have no idea what it is or anything like that. To me, it is another arena and another opponent.” 

At 37 years old, Djokovic is the oldest tennis player to win an Olympic singles gold medal. He spoke glowingly about what that triumph meant for his career. Harrington has no such win-at-all-costs mentality. After the semi-final victory over Beatriz Ferreira, who she also beat in her last Olympic final, she spoke modestly about wanting to be happy.

She deserves a fitting platform, though, for a fight that will consolidate her place at the top of the Irish amateur boxing pantheon. Last Saturday was her 100th win. It is just under 18 years since she made her debut. 101 can be the greatest.

The home of The French Open does have a proud boxing tradition. Former middleweight world champion and Hall of Famer Marcel Cerdan beat Holman Williams over 10 rounds there in July 1946.

Cerdan lost his title against ‘Raging Bull’ Jake LaMotta three years later and died in a plane crash before their rematch. During their time in Paris, the United States basketball team have been training in The Palais des Sports Marcel-Cerdan.

Three years ago, 2016 Super-heavyweight gold medallist Tony Yoka brought boxing back to the centre court for the first time in 48 years.

Harrington is now on the cusp of joining rowers Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy as the only Irish athletes to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals since Pat O’Callaghan in the men’s hammer throw at the 1928 and 1932 Games. The only other female boxers to win back-to-back Olympic titles are America’s Claressa Shields and Great Britain’s Nicola Adams.

She is already the first woman to win medals at more than one Olympic Games. She was never going to settle for that, stressed Boxing Ireland performance director Tricia Heberle the night Harrington secured a medal.

“It is an outstanding achievement, very few boxers have been able to do it, but Kellie didn’t come here to win a bronze,” she said.

“I think you can see the way she is boxing; she is very serious about defending her title.” 

Yang Wenlu is a considerable underdog although she did win gold at the 2016 World Championships and the 2022 Asian Games. For the 2016 feat, she beat Harrington in the 64kg final. The 34-year-old can remember thinking she should have won on the scorecard that day.

Across four rounds, one judge scored it a 38-38 draw. The others opted for 39-37 and 40-36 against the Irish woman.

She is a different fighter now. Better. One capable of stance-switching seamlessly between punches, of trading on the inside or picking points from range. Her conditioning has been a formidable weapon with dominant final rounds a regular feature. All of that makes it remarkable that this could well be her last stand in international boxing. The latest explanation was that she would be content to stick to National Championships after this week.

There are several reasons for that, in particular the weight. The first thought in her mind as she makes her way back to the dressing room is getting a sweat on. For the last three weigh-ins, Harrington has hit 59.9kg exactly. She can’t wait to see the back of the 60kg limit.

A gold medal fight, Irish boxing’s last representative in Paris, the likely farewell. How will she deal with all of that? Heberle has no doubt.

“Kellie is not going to feel pressure. She has been here before. She has handled the crowd really well. I think she has embraced the crowd and that is a point of difference from Tokyo. I know exactly what she wants to achieve at the end of this event. Two gold medals would sit very comfortably around her neck.”