All is sweet with Kellie Harrington in Paris. The most recognisable face on the Irish team makes the first defence of the gold medal she won in Tokyo three years ago at the Paris Arena this afternoon. Harrington must win three bouts if she is to make it to another Olympic final.
The lightweight competition attracted some controversy this week when Nigerian boxer Cynthia Ogunsemilore failed a drug test and was sent home. Seeded four, she was on the other side of the draw from Harrington.
Keeping a low profile before she travelled to Germany for a training camp and then on to Paris, the 34-year-old Dubliner opens her Olympics against unseeded Italian boxer Alessia Mesiano, who won her preliminary bout while Harrington received a bye.
The pair met in 2021 in Belfast in a behind-closed-doors international which Harrington won. Seeded three, she goes into the fight as favourite. China’s Wenlu Yang is top seed and Brazil’s Beatriz Soares Ferreira second. Harrington’s seeding means she will meet the Brazilian in the semi-final if the two boxers advance that far.
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“She’s brilliant. She’s in a good place. She’s happy,” said Irish team coach Damian Kennedy. “It’s been a brilliant, positive atmosphere, Saarbrucken [training camp] was brilliant, everything about the camp and the preparation has been perfect. Kellie, mentally, is in a great place, and she’s ready.”
Harrington has lost just once since she won the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo’s Kokugikan Arena. That defeat to Serb boxer Natalia Shadrina, an opponent she had beaten in 2023, came by way of a split decision when the pair met at the European Championships semi-final in Belgrade earlier this year. Prior to that Harrington had 23 straight wins since Tokyo.
“Kellie’s a professional, Kellie does everything perfect, so she is finalising her taper like the rest of the guys who are entering the competition,” added Kennedy.
“She’s doing a little bit of pads, her weight is not far away from where it needs to be and we’ll go through the same process as we do with everybody else, we’ll sit down and put a plan together and we’ll analyse her opponent, as we always do, and Kellie will implement the plan.”
The 32-year-old Mesiano is an experienced fighter, having taken up boxing at the age of 19. She qualified for Paris at the first qualifying tournament in a box-off but has been successful at world level in the lighter featherweight division, where she won the World Championships in 2016.
Turning towards the heavier 60kg division, Mesiano won a lightweight bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships in Istanbul, where Harrington did not compete, and Amy Broadhurst won light welterweight gold and Lisa O’Rourke light middleweight gold. Neither of the Irish world champions are in Paris.
“We have experience of her before [she beat Michaela Walsh],” said Kennedy. “We know her and have plenty of footage of her. We’ll do what we do with everyone else, we’ll put a plan together and see where we can capitalise on what she does.”
