Kellie Harrington can now add European Games Champion to her prestigious list of accolades following her gold medal win this evening at the Nowy Targ Arena. Harrington was a silver medallist at the 2019 edition of the Games in Minsk.
A slow start saw Harrington down 3-2 at the end of the first round to Serbia’s Natalia Shadrina.
Afterwards Harrington gave this take on it: “In the first round, I’m not going to say I was asleep, but I was in sparring mode let’s say seeing what she was going to bring, and I sussed it out that she was jumping in more shots, so I came back and it was a 3-2, and I knew I had to go back out and put a little bit of a push on, but without pushing forward silly and getting caught because that is what she would want, so that’s what I did.”
That push from the Dubliner in rounds two and three saw the Olympic and World Champion show her class dominating the ring to take both 5-0 for an unanimous decision win.
“When I came back in the second round, I did that; I got a push on. When I came back to the corner (after the second round), obviously the coaches get the score, but I really didn’t need the score off the coaches because I could hear all the Irish fans in the stands screaming. I knew I was up then because I could hear the fans. The Irish fans are the best fans in the world."
Reflecting on the final Harrington said: “I wouldn’t say it was a domination or anything; it was more smart tactical. I wasn’t going in there looking to knock anyone out or anything but I just needed to win a chess match really and that’s what it was.
"She was trying to jump in and I was just check hooking her when she was jumping in. She wanted me to stand toe to toe with her.
She continued: “That was my second time fighting her, and the first time the whole three rounds were toe to toe, there was no boxing in it; it was actually a great fight that time, it was class. Today was much more like a chess match.
"A fight is a fight, a win is a win, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do, and that’s it, I did what I needed to do; I got over the line and I have my qualification for Paris, and I’m happy out now.”
Harrington (33) has been quite open about her relationship with boxing since her gold medal in Tokyo in 2021, but this week has seen some of her best boxing and she has found a renewed love for the sport.
“The love was always there, I lost it a little bit and found it again. I’m sure I’m going to lose it again between now and Paris. It’s a love/hate relationship, sometimes mostly hate, but we always find the love to keep us going.”
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Jack Marley will return to Ireland with his first senior international medal and a ticket to Paris 2024 following a unanimous decision defeat to Italy’s Aziz Abbes Mouhiidine in this evening’s heavyweight (92kg) final.
Marley was delighted with his silver medal saying; “It’s an absolute privilege for myself, and my club (Monkstown BC), my country, friends, family; everyone, I’m just delighted.”
Italian Mouhiidine; a two-time world silver medallist and 2022 European Champion beat Marley 10-9 in all three rounds to take the gold medal on a unanimous decision 5-0.
Speaking about his opponent Marley said: “He’s been around the block; he’s world number two at the moment, European champion from last year, so today was a tough one. I thought I gave him a good go, I left a little imprint for the Games.”
Twenty-year-old Marley has impressed all week beating several experienced boxers, and will relish the opportunity at taking them on again in Paris; “I’ll just do the exact same thing I’ve been doing, there’s no point changing anything if it’s working, just keep training harder than I’ve ever trained, get better one percent every day, just keep learning.”
Clancy was delighted to have some surprise visitors to his final bout; “I had a couple of surprises from my club coaches as well that I didn’t know were going to be here today and that was an extra kick. I actually heard James Doyle in the middle of the first round and I didn’t even know he was coming; all the rest were there too."
Sligo-based boxer Dean Clancy also enjoyed receiving his bronze medal: “I’m delighted. Looking at it there, it’s nice to see the Olympic rings on it there also. It’s only starting to really hit that I’m going to the Olympics the last couple of days. I’ve got my medal and I’m looking forward to Paris now.”
Head coach Zauri Anita can be very pleased with the return from these Games for his brilliant team. Five of the 12 that travelled have qualified for Paris 2024, with nine having reached the quarter-final stage where they got to contest Olympic qualification.
On Sunday, Aoife O’Rourke, from Castlerea in Co.Roscommon, will contest the Middleweight (75kg) final against Davina-Myrha Michel of France; a bronze medallist at last year’s World Championships.
