Kellie Harrington: ‘It has been three years of madness. It’s been hard so I decided that is it for me’

STANDING TALLEST: An emotional Kellie Harrington with her gold medal after defeating Wenlu Yang of Team People's Republic of China. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

In Tokyo, the writing was on the wall. Kellie Harrington was set to retire after clinching a gold medal. She prepared for those Games by writing on the walls of her room in the Olympic Village. Gradually, it all changed.

It was a shorter cycle to Paris where she had the chance to end her career as a two-time Olympic champion. On Tuesday, the Dubliner did so as she secured Ireland’s fourth gold medal of the 2024 Games with victory over Wenlu Yang.

It was Bernard Dunne who told her in 2021 that she could write on the walls because they would be replaced anyway. This time she did it all differently.

"I had all my photographs and I put them up with Blu-Tack,” said Harrington post-fight.

“Mandy (wife) gives me a little package and it has loads of little photographs in it of people that I love and good memories that I’ve had. I take them out and then she leaves me a really positive card.

“I read that and then I put them all on the wall because she also puts Blu-Tack in the gift. Then I have Post-Its and every day I’ll write something on it like, ‘I know I can,’ and I’ll stick it on the wall. ‘Professional’ stick it on the wall. ‘Smile’ is on the wall. ‘Happiness’ and before I leave this week, I’ll say I have about 20 of them on the wall now. I’ll read them all and I say them out loud.”

Before the fight, Harrington was captured reading from a card in the dressing room. It was given to her by former High Performance Manager Rachael Mulligan. Afterwards, she continued to mark the moment in her own special way.

The raucous Irish crowd at Roland-Garros gave her a sense of what life would be like as a pro. Due to covid, that support was not available.

She cheered, she wept, she danced, after midnight had come and gone she sang to the last few diehards in the bleachers but this one was for her.

“The last one was for everybody else,” she said.

“We were going through a pandemic and everybody needed something to give them a lift, and at that time to get people to smile about something. That is what the last one was for and this one… when you reach a mountain, find a bigger mountain and that is what I done and it wasn’t easy to climb that mountain.

"It has been three years of madness. It’s been hard so I decided that is it for me. I'm doing it for me and me alone and that's what it is. I'm just so happy and I'm so proud of myself and to be here. Just to be doing what I’m doing.”

She joins Nicola Adams and Clarissa Shields as the only women to retain their Olympic boxing titles. It is Ireland’s seventh medal of the 2024 Games. She is walking away but not leaving. Harrington wants to stay around the team, not as a coach, but in some capacity. She knows she can add positive values.

The 24-year-old hopes boxing is still part of the Olympic programme for LA 2028. It would be "absolutely disastrous" if it is omitted. Changes have to happen but she knows that kids dream of going to the Games and winning gold. She lived that dream. Twice. What a thing.

“There are no more mountains, that is it. I’m done now. The next chapter is going to be my life chapter. It is for me and Mandy now to do what we’re doing.

“Who knows what that’s going to be? But I can’t wait to just live my life, not that I’m not living my life, that is like, ‘What are you talking about?’

“But to not be looking at the scales every morning and all boxers are the same: to be able to train the way we want to train, because everything is like, ‘You can’t do that because you might get injured.’ "Or, ‘You can’t do that because you’ve training tomorrow, and if you do that you’ll be tired tomorrow and you won’t have anything to be able to spar.’

"I want to just do whatever type of training I want to do. Stuff like that, so no more mountains.”