Games, set and match - golden girl Harrington defends Olympic crown
IT is an increasingly rare occurrence for a sportsperson – and especially a boxer – to walk away at the peak of their powers.
Kellie Harrington, however, has always marched to the beat of her own drum. Those years stuck in the shadow of Katie Taylor would have seen many others slip away, settling for a life of what-could-have-beens.
Not Kellie. She stayed around, scrapping for whatever she could get, whether that was at her preferred lightweight, or four kilos heavier at light-welter where the Dubliner claimed a World silver medal.
Yet it was only when Taylor moved into the professional realm after Rio 2016 that the public at large suddenly realised what it had been missing. Travelling to Tokyo in Covid conditions, Harrington shook away the sterility of the delayed 2020 Olympics to hold a nation in her thrall – dancing to the top of the podium in utterly imperious fashion.
Repeating the trick three years on, at the age of 34, was a different proposition entirely. Harrington secured qualification at the first time of asking, but a deserved defeat to Serbia’s Natalia Shadrina in April – bringing an end to a run of 32 straight wins – raised serious questions marks before the defence of her Olympic crown had even got under way.
As it turned out, that loss came at just the right time.
Because in Paris three months later, Harrington was edgy from the off. In the right sort of way.
She has always prepared in a professional manner, but this time was even more intense. The pressure, so close to home in comparison to that empty hall in Tokyo, was huge.
Away from the ring, Harrington kept the head down. When Team Ireland held a media day in early July, she was nowhere to be seen. After getting up and running with victory over Italy’s experienced Alessia Mesiano, she kept her post-fight media engagements short and to the point.
“None,” she said when asked about any possible hangover from the Shadrina defeat, “you have to fall to get back up. If you didn’t get back up you may as well stay down…”
There were tears in her eyes as she embraced coach Zaur Antia on their way backstage; it was only the first step, but arguably the most important. A pressure valve had been released and, rather than grind it out, she had enjoyed every second of those nine minutes between the ropes.
This was her stage - from that point, there would be no looking back. Harrington eased into the last four, and an eagerly-anticipated rematch with Brazilian Beatriz Ferreira, three years after their nip and tuck final inside Ryōgoku Kokugikan.
This time it wasn’t close; not even near. Harrington produced a masterclass at the North Paris Arena, setting up a final date with China’s Wenlu Yang at the iconic Roland Garros, and a Monday night that ranks right up there with the great Irish sporting celebrations.
For one last time in Paris, one last time on the international stage, Harrington was too slick and too smart for her opponent; the Philippe Chatrier court turning green, white and gold as the queen returned to her throne.
Before taking her leave, Harrington led Irish supporters in a rendition of ‘Grace’. Another followed on the concourse outside the home of French tennis. If Tokyo had been for everyone back home, at a time when the world remained in the grip of a global pandemic, this one was for her.
She had threatened to call time after Tokyo, but the pull proved too much. Now, it is different. Kellie Harrington’s days of running dry to make 60 kilos are over – and she walks away on her terms, leaving a legacy that is worth its weight in gold.
Paris post-mortem, dodgy decisions and remarkable resilience
FOUR months on from that glorious night, however, the bones are still being picked out of Ireland’s overall Olympic performance.
The bare facts are that while a team of 10 travelled out to Paris – a record-equalling amount - only one medal came back. It could, should, have been more and, as ever, there are a number of different reasons why that wasn’t the case.
Some simply fell below their own high standards. Outside of Harrington, Aoife O’Rourke was Ireland’s biggest medal hope. Her first bout pitted the Roscommon woman against Elzbieta Wojciek – the Pole who O’Rourke had fought, and beaten, on six previous occasions.
Yet, in her second crack at the Olympics, O’Rourke was drawn into a brawl she had no business being a part of.
Grainne Walsh, similarly, had beaten some top-class operators to reach this stage but could not find any kind of flow against Anna Luca Homori – a shocking refereeing performance not helping the Offaly woman’s case as the Hungarian was allowed to pull and haul time and again.
On another day, both Walsh and O’Rourke might have seen split decisions go in their favour and moved on. Instead, it was the end of the road.
Dean Clancy appeared to feel the weight of being Ireland’s first boxer between the ropes as he slipped out early doors. Michaela Walsh and Jennifer Lehane gave all they had but it wasn’t enough.
Jude Gallagher exited in a fight of the finest margins, just edged out by classy Filipino Carlo Paalam. Twenty-one-year-old Jack Marley stopped Ireland’s early slide with a memorable win over Mateusz Bereznicki before bowing out to Davlat Boltaev.
And then there’s the dodgy ones.
Daina Moorehouse’s defeat to French favourite Wassila Lkhadri had echoes of Michael Conlan’s hugely controversial 2016 exit at the hands of Vladimir Nikitin, such was her dominance.
In the days that followed, it was reported that two of the judges involved were previously deemed to be at “high risk” of manipulating bouts - with both stood down during the 2021 World Championships in Serbia.
The pair were also judges in Grainne Walsh’s fight – and Ireland was not the only country left crying foul as the dust settled on another Games when boxing’s reputation took a battering.
“I don’t know whether it’s corruption or just bad judging… I’d like to think it was just bad judging, but the judging was atrocious,” said Billy Walsh, the former Irish head coach now at the helm of Team USA.
“I’ve got feedback from my analysis guy, and some of the rounds we lost we actually hit the guy twice as many times as he hit us. Now how the f**k do you score that?”
Little was made of Aidan Walsh’s defeat to Makan Traore, even though he clearly took the first two rounds against the Frenchman, who was cheered on by a partisan crowd. A momentum fighter, who knows how far the Tokyo bronze medallist might have gone had that hurdle been overcome.
Walsh’s story, though, provided a healthy dose of perspective in the midst of the hysteria. After a year away from the sport, and having fallen out of love with boxing, the Belfast man was a surprise pick for the first World Olympic qualifier in Italy. When he didn’t claim a quota place, it looked as though his dream of a second Games could be over.
But Walsh, who has spoken candidly of his mental health issues, produced an astonishing performance in Bangkok’s last chance saloon - six fights in eight days, including a counter-punching masterclass to outwit Cuba’s Jorge Cuellar, guaranteeing his golden ticket.
And despite his second Olympic outing coming to a controversial end, Walsh was, as always, class personified.
“This sport has brought me to my knees a number of times and the main thing is that I have stood up again.
“Regardless of what happens in my life, I have stood up again.”
The Amy Broadhurst row that rocked Irish boxing
HAD things worked out differently, Amy Broadhurst might have added an Olympic medal to the World gold won two years ago. Instead, she found herself at the centre of one of the sporting stories of the year for an entirely different reason.
The Dundalk woman had her shot at Olympic qualification in the summer of 2023 but fell at the penultimate hurdle. Grainne Walsh was subsequently handed her chance at March’s World qualifier in Italy – the Offaly woman was in inspired form, only to fall victim to a horrendous decision in her winner-takes-all clash with Aneta Rygielska.
Back from injury, Broadhurst hoped to be in the mix for a crack at the final World qualifier in Bangkok, but the Irish High Performance opted against an assessment at 66kg – selecting Walsh once more, and leaving Broadhurst and Lisa O’Rourke out in the cold.
Rather than give up on her Olympic dream, however, Broadhurst was offered the chance to box for Team GB as she was eligible through her English-born father, Tony. All the paperwork was concluded in time but, while Walsh sealed her Paris place in Bangkok, Broadhurst – campaigning down at lightweight, which could have put her on a collision course with Kellie Harrington – didn’t make the cut.
It was widely anticipated that she would turn pro afterwards but having decided to take a break, and now expecting her first child, the Olympic dream still burns brightly for Broadhurst.
It will be interesting to see what the future brings.
Top talent emerging - but Ireland’s Olympic future remains unclear
AS we look into 2025, there are plenty of reasons to be cheerful.
From an Ulster perspective, the likes of Louis Rooney and Carleigh Irving made impressive starts to their elite careers – Rooney winning Ulster and Irish titles, as well as claiming the European U22 crown, where Irving claimed silver having also triumphed in Ulster.
Holy Trinity’s Clepson dos Santos landed bronze, and backed that up weeks later with his maiden Irish elite crown.
Jude Gallagher had a 12 months to remember and can go from strength to strength, while Dylan Eagleson hopes to be on the comeback trail in the first half of the year, with focus turning towards the next Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Dublin teenagers Adam Olaniyan and Kyla Doyle also showcased their huge potential, claiming World and European Youth gold – bigger days lie ahead, though how they will look in the context of Ireland’s international and Olympic future remains to be seen.
It appears certain that World Boxing will be endorsed as the International Olympic Council’s preferred partner, therefore ensuring boxing takes pride of place at the Los Angeles Games in 2028, having been left off the initial programme.
Whether Ireland is involved, however, is still up for discussion.
A year after voting to remain with the International Boxing Association (IBA) - which finds itself ostracised entirely from the Olympic movement - members of the International Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) voted in favour of removing all references to the IBA from its constitution.
That, however, only opened the door to change; the next step, the next vote on whether or not to join World Boxing or stay with the IBA, will be of much greater significance.
Because, as things stand, the IABA is no longer a member of the Olympic Federation of Ireland (OFI). This follows a series of warnings that, unless it joined up with World Boxing, the IABA would find itself out in the cold.
“How that sits with us, given we are Ireland’s most successful Olympic sport, is something each of us, each club, each provincial unit, central council and the board of directors needs to reflect on,” said Niall O’Carroll, chair of the IABA board of directors, in a letter sent to members before Christmas.
“What that means for our future is something we must decide together. As it stands, our current junior boxers are not on course to contest the 2026 Youth Olympics, as Lauren Kelly, Dean Clancy and Dearbhla Rooney did in the last iteration of these Games in 2018. Our current youth and elite boxers are not on the path to contesting LA 2028 and continuing our Olympic legacy.
“In a perfect world, I would end this message on the hopeful note of success to come, but the reality is that we stand at a crossroads. It is the choice of which road to take which will determine our future direction, and how we grow nationally and on the international stage.
“I encourage all clubs and members to take the opportunity of down-time this Christmas to think on where you see us in 2028 – in LA, or at home. Who will we be watching win Olympic gold?”
With memories still fresh from that magical night in Roland Garros, and the hopes of hundreds of other Kellie Harringtons hanging by a thread, it is a sobering thought.
