Kellie’s a hero.
Kellie Harrington is on the brink of becoming the second woman to represent Ireland in boxing at the Olympic Games after the Glasnevin fighter beat Zarina Tsoloyeva to guarantee at least a bronze medal at the AIBA World Women’s Elite Boxing Championships in Astana.
Harrington also becomes Ireland’s second female medallist ever at the World Championships after Katie Taylor.
The light-welterweight from Glasnevin scored a unanimous points decision over Tsoloyeva and will now face Canada’s Sarah Kali in the semi-final.
Kellie Harrington secured first Irish medal at #AIBAstana2016 #Superwomen @EUBC_Boxing @IABABOXING pic.twitter.com/WGII5nXiT8
— IBA (@IBA_Boxing) May 24, 2016
Speaking to RTE Sport after the fight, Harrington said: “It got tougher as the fight went on, I was getting tired, she was getting tired. The last round, she knew she had to work and she kept coming at me.
“At the end of each round, Eddie and Zaur kept telling me, ‘You’re great, you’re doing great, you’re good,’ and then they’d give me my tactics.
“I always had the right tactics, but sometimes when you get back to your corner, you can be unsure of how you’re doing, and they were just there – ‘You’re doing great, you’re doing great.
“Our physio, Julianne Ryan, messaged me and said nothing is impossible. ‘Davey Oliver Joyce beat a Turk in Turkey for his Olympic qualifications, so you can go out there and beat the Kazakh.’ And it was true, I’ve done it!”
