'Hands down the greatest moment of my life'; Kellie Harrington's brother Joel summed up the view of her Olympic triumph from the Harrington household.
Harrington took home the gold medal after beating Brazil’s Beatriz Ferreira in Tokyo on Sunday.
The St. Mary’s boxer bounced back from a 3-2 decision against her in the first round with an awesome display in the subsequent two rounds, ultimately securing victory by unanimous decision.
Kellie Harrington
Speaking to Off The Ball, brother Joel compared the victory to other iconic moments in Irish sporting history.
"There’s times when you just sit back and you remember the certain moments in sporting history - whether that’s in football, where you have Shane Long’s goal against Germany, or Robbie Keane’s goal in 2002, or Kenny Egan in 2008, Katie [Taylor], Michael Carruth - it was one of those moments where Kellie just took the bull by the horns and absolutely dominated for the second two rounds.'
"Seeing your sister achieve what we’ve always wanted her to achieve as a family - we’ve always supported her, and always knew she could do it - hands down the greatest moment of my life, nothing comes remotely close to it."
In particular, Joel highlighted the strength in character Kellie displayed to shift the momentum against such a talented opponent.
“I thought [Ferreira] won the first 30-45 seconds of the fight, and then Kellie got into her rhythm, and that was it.
"I think the last two rounds say it all; she won the last two rounds on every judge’s scorecard, and she got a unanimous decision.
"I think that actual sporting achievement might actually be overlooked. To beat a girl who is so aggressive and so dominant in fights - that’s nothing to turn your nose up at.
"Obviously, the headlines will focus on Kellie winning the gold medal, but the actual sporting achievement is something to be proud of."
"The cherry on the cake"
Joel also paid tribute to Kellie's dedication, noting that all her achievements to date have come from years of hard work.
"Kellie has been given absolutely nothing. Everything she has, she’s worked for and had to grind for. She had to work, and get every ounce of talent out of her and she squeezed that out of herself."
"There were countless times when Kellie looked for some kind of support - whether from boxing or through sponsorships - and she had to break down barriers and force openings and force opportunities for herself and she wasn’t gonna be denied what she wanted from her career.
"I think a lot of that was vindicated when she won the [World Championships] in 2018, but this is just the cherry on the cake."
Indeed are proud to support Team Ireland at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
Indeed believes the world works better when people are given every opportunity to unleash their true talents. #TalentUnleashed
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
