If one would’ve asked about the
chances of Kellie Harrington rising to worldwide fame last
month, her name likely wouldn’t’ve influenced anyone. Her
performance at the Summer Olympics has, in turn, changed all
that, pushing her from a virtually unknown athlete into the
spotlight. Her results even prompted MMA superstar Conor
McGregor to congratulate her for her Olympic Gold, saying “ The
condition you are in is incredible. Real work ethic.
Congratulations Kelly”.
Who is Kellie Harrington?
Born in 1989 in Dublin, Kellie Harrington has been chosen as one
of Ireland’s flagbearers for the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
She is an amateur boxer with quite a few accomplishments to her
name: fighting for St Mary's Boxing Club in Tallaght, Dublin,
she won a gold medal at the 2018 AIBA Women's World Boxing
Championships, a silver at the 2016 AIBA Women's World Boxing
Championships in New Delhi, silver at the 2019 European Games in
Minsk, and another one at the 2017 Women's European Union
Amateur Boxing Championships held in Cascia, Italy.
In her everyday life, she is a part-time cleaner at the St
Vincent's Psychiatric Hospital in Dublin, and to her long-term
relationship with Mandy Loughlin, whom she met through boxing.
From tearaway
She was not always the disciplined athlete she is today. At one
point in her teens, she almost ended up in prison. Thankfully,
she didn’t - and she thanks boxing for that. “There’s no doubt
it was the boxing (that turned my life around. I just needed
something and boxing was cheap, cheerful and there’s a boxing
club on every second corner in the inner city”, she told the
press in 2019. She had no interest in school and had no idea
what she would do in her life, drifting around in Dublin with no
clear aim in sight. Then, at the age of 14, she was introduced
to boxing - and this turned her life around.
…to local hero
Boxing helped her go from a tearaway to a local hero, a positive
role model for her community. And this didn’t happen now, that
she pocketed one of the most important victories - an Olympic
gold medal - but in November 2018, when she won the World
Championship. Her story inspired many young girls to turn to
boxing, especially after she, along with Olympic rower Claire
Lambe and Paralympic swimmer Nicole Turner, were invited to a
series of schools to tell their inspiring stories to the kids.
Who is Kellie Harrington? A role model, a local hero, an LGBTQ
icon, a World Champion - and since a few days ago, an Olympic
champion in the lightweight division.
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