KELLIE HARRINGTON is Ireland’s history-making golden girl, defeating China’s Wenlu Yang in the lightweight final this evening. The win makes it back-to-back Olympic gold medals for the Dubliner who also struck gold at Tokyo 2020.
This was a repeat of the 2016 World Championship final, which Yang won on points. She raced out of the blocks here, looking to put pressure on the Irishwoman. How much could be taken from their previous bout eight years ago remained to be seen.
Switching between southpaw and orthodox, the Tallaght talent had her timing down to a tee as she exited the opening round 4-1. Harrington’s hand speed and shot selection were sublime in the second as she picked off Yang, who continued to bustle forward. Bouncing in and out on her toes, Harrington was again the boss in round two.
Yang threw the kitchen sink at Harrington in the third and final round, narrowing the scores, but could not find that one big equaliser. Kellie Harrington prevailed by split decision, following in the footsteps of the legendary female boxer Katie Taylor to become a national superstar.
The judges’ scorecards read as follows: Babak Bordbar 29-28, Jung Sook Cho 28-29, Cem Dunar 29-28, Susann Kopke 29-28 and Emerson Pastor 29-28.