Boxing

Kellie Harrington wins second gold medal and bows out as Olympic champion

Harrington has retained her Olympic gold medal by beating Wenlu Yang

Kellie Harrington celebrating her gold medal win on her knees, fist-pumping the air
PARIS, FRANCE - AUGUST 06: Kellie Harrington of Team Ireland celebrates winning the gold medal after the Women's 60kg Final match against Wenlu Yang of Team People's Republic of China on day eleven of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Roland Garros on August 06, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images) (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
By Liam Grimley

KELLIE Harrington has retained her Olympic gold medal after winning against Wenlu Yang of China by split decision.

This gold medal means that the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris will be the most successful in Irish sporting history.

In the first round, Harrington was on top, winning 4-1 in the first round, landing plenty of punches and making good use of her speed to evade the advances of Yang, who never looked a real challenge to the St Mary’s fighter.

In the second round, she came out fighting and landed some big blows, making sure she scored points, however, she missed some big swings on Yang, leaving her open to the fast hands of the Chinese number-one seed at times.

As the second round ended, she was confident walking back to her corner shrugging her shoulders and showing that she was in control of the bout, which reflected on the scorecards.

Harrington remained confident coming into the third and final round, coming out swinging and keeping Yang guessing and light on her feet.

The Dublin-based fighter landed a nice combo to keep the pressure on Yang and kept peppering the Chinese fighter with shots that seemed to edge her closer to that gold medal with every successful hit.

After the bell rang, Harrington was celebrating as if she had the medal around her already.

When Canadian referee Jeffery Verhoeven raised her hand, Harrington burst into celebration, fell to her knees in disbelief and then went on to treat the crowd to a dance routine.

The Roland-Garros Arena, which seemed to be a sea of Irish fans and tricolours, erupted in jubilation.

Ireland now sits 12th in the medals table with seven medals, four of those being gold.

Speaking to RTÉ after her win, Harrington said: “It just gives hope. Look at all these young kids, these teenagers, it gives hope to them.

It gives hope to the people of Ireland. But this one was for me.”

She also confirmed her retirement following her victory, saying “It’s the last hurrah. I’m done. I always said I’d retire a champion, that’s it.

“Bob’s your uncle, Fanny’s your auntie, goodnight Irene.”

Some last words from the two-time Olympic gold medal-winning boxer Kellie Harrington.