Olympic boxer Kellie Harrington was declared European Games champion after winning the gold medal in the women’s lightweight final.
Ms Harrington claimed a unanimous win from the judges against Natalia Shadrina at the games last night in Krakow, Poland.
The boxer said her win was based on “smart tactical” strategy against her opponent.
“I wasn’t going in there looking to knock anyone out or anything, but I just needed to win a chess match really,” she said.
“A fight is a fight, a win is a win, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do, and that’s it, I done what I needed to do.”
Ms Harrington said she has renewed her love of boxing following the games in Poland.
“The love was always there, I lost it a little bit and found it again,” she said.
2GBYJA0 Tokyo, Japan. 05th Aug, 2021. Tokyo, Japan. August 6th 2021: Tokyo, Japan. August 6th 2021: Tokyo, Japan. August 5th 2021: Tokyo, Japan. 5th Aug, 2021. Kellie Anne HARRINGTON (IRL) (red) celebrates victory Boxing : Women's Light (57-60kg) Semi-Final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo, Japan . Credit: Naoki Morita/AFLO SPORT/Alamy Live News Credit: Aflo Co. Ltd./Alamy Live NewsMs Harrington will compete at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Irish Heavyweight Jack Marley also claimed a silver medal at after losing to Italian Aziz Abbes Mouhiidine.
Ms Harrington praised Team Ireland boxers’ performances this week.
“We have a really, really great team coming through,” she said. “This tournament has really shown how we all gel together as a team, and it’s shown all the hard work that has been put into us.”
“Even the ones who didn’t win, they still performed and that’s all that can be asked of them... I really believe that we’re going to have a great strong team going out to Paris in 2024.”
