Kellie Anne Harrington (born 11 December 1989) is an
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
amateur boxer
Amateur boxing is a variant of boxing practiced at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as many associations.
Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration, comprising three rounds of three ...
, amateur World champion and an Olympic gold medallist.
She was a silver medallist in the
light welterweight
Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing Professional boxing
In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...
division at the
2016 Women's World Boxing Championships. She won the gold medal in the
lightweight
Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing.
Boxing
Professional boxing
The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing.
Notable lightweight boxe ...
division at the
2018 Women's World Boxing Championships and won the gold medal in the
lightweight
Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing.
Boxing
Professional boxing
The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing.
Notable lightweight boxe ...
division at the
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on 8 August 2021.
Career
![Kellie Harrington and Emmet Brennan returning from 2020 Summer Olympics 04](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Kellie_Harrington_and_Emmet_Brennan_returning_from_2020_Summer_Olympics_04.jpg)
She won a silver medal in the
lightweight
Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing.
Boxing
Professional boxing
The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing.
Notable lightweight boxe ...
division at the
2017 Women's European Union Boxing Championships and a bronze at the
2018 Women's European Boxing Championships.
She won the gold medal in the
lightweight
Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing.
Boxing
Professional boxing
The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing.
Notable lightweight boxe ...
division at the
2018 Women's World Boxing Championships. She was the silver medallist in the
light welterweight
Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing Professional boxing
In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...
division at the
2016 Women's World Boxing Championships.
2020 Summer Olympics
Harrington won the
2020 European Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament, by defeating
Caroline Dubois on a split decision in the final.
Harrington was part of the
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
team at the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
. She was one of the
flag bearers for Ireland at the
opening ceremony on 23 July. She competed in the
lightweight
Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing.
Boxing
Professional boxing
The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing.
Notable lightweight boxe ...
division of the
boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
competition. In her first fight, she defeated
Rebecca Nicoli 5–0 to advance to the quarter-finals, where she then defeated
Imane Khelif 5–0 to guarantee at least a bronze medal. In her semi-final on 5 August, Harrington defeated
Sudaporn Seesondee
Sudaporn Seesondee ( th, สุดาพร สีสอนดี, born 4 October 1991) is a Thai boxer. She won the silver medal in the women's 60kg event at the 2018 Asian Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia. She won the bronze medal in the wo ...
3–2 to advance to the final. In her final on 8 August, Harrington defeated
Beatriz Ferreira
Beatriz Iasmin Soares Ferreira (; born 9 December 1992) is a Brazilian boxer.
She won a medal at the 2019 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships.
She represented Brazil at the 2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known ...
5–0 winning the gold medal, becoming Ireland's third Olympic boxing champion.
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Michael D. Higgins
Michael Daniel Higgins ( ga, Mícheál Dónal Ó hUigínn; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet, sociologist, and broadcaster, who has served as the ninth president of Ireland since November 2011. Entering national politics throug ...
,
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
Micheál Martin
Micheál Martin (; born 1 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who is serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ireland), Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence (Ireland), Minister for Defence since Decembe ...
congratulated Harrington on her win, along with
Katie Taylor
Katie Taylor (born 2 July 1986) is an Irish professional boxer and former footballer. She is a two-weight world champion and the current undisputed lightweight champion, having held the WBA title since 2017; the IBF title since 2018; and the ...
and
Michael Carruth
Michael Carruth (born 9 July 1967) is a southpaw Irish Olympic boxer from Dublin. He is best known for winning the welterweight gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. He turned Pro in 1994 but retired in 2000.
Amateur boxing
;Ol ...
.
Recognition
![Kellie Harrington banner, Dublin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Kellie_Harrington_banner%2C_Dublin.jpg)
For
International Women's Day
International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wom ...
in 2022,
An Post
(; literally 'The Post') is the state-owned provider of postal services in Ireland. An Post provides a "universal postal service" to all parts of the country as a member of the Universal Postal Union. Services provided include letter post, p ...
launched a stamp collection of Irish sports women which featured Harrington and others.
Harrington was joint
grand marshal
Grand marshal is a ceremonial, military rank, military, or political office of very high rank. The term has its origins with the word "marshal" with the first usage of the term "grand marshal" as a ceremonial title for certain religious orders. ...
with
Ellen Keane at the Dublin St Patrick's Day parade on 17 March 2022.
In 2022, she was awarded the
freedom
Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...
of
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
city.
Personal life
Harrington is from
Dublin's north inner city and is a member of St. Mary's Boxing Club, Tallaght. At age 15, she developed an interest in boxing, and attempted to join the local boxing club, only to be told that they would not accept girls.
But Harrington persisted, was eventually admitted, and made rapid progress in her boxing career.
She has stated that she intends to return to her part-time cleaning job at
St Vincent's Psychiatric Hospital in Dublin, regardless of her result at the Olympics.
Harrington has been in a relationship with Mandy Loughlin since 2009 after meeting her through boxing. This made her one of at least
180 openly gay athletes at the 2020 Olympic games. They married in Dublin on 8 April 2022.
In October 2022, Harrington released her autobiography called ''Kellie'' which was written with
Roddy Doyle
Roddy Doyle (born 8 May 1958) is an Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. He is the author of eleven novels for adults, eight books for children, seven plays and screenplays, and dozens of short stories. Several of his books have been ma ...
.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrington, Kellie
1989 births
AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships medalists
Boxers at the 2019 European Games
European Games medalists in boxing
European Games silver medalists for Ireland
Irish women boxers
Irish LGBT sportspeople
Light-welterweight boxers
Lightweight boxers
Living people
Sportspeople from South Dublin (county)
Olympic gold medalists for Ireland
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic medalists in boxing
Boxers at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic boxers of Ireland