It has been ten days since she landed back in Ireland with an Olympic Gold Medal. It has been a whirl of getting to see family, reconnecting with her community and doing the rounds of media to share her joy and personality with the Irish people.
We had some time with Kellie earlier this week and we found out what it had been like since coming home, what she had caught up with on TV, where She was in her head about the next steps and a lot more…
First of all, how are you?
Ah, I feel brand new shampoo now. A couple of good nights sleep and I’m grand, back to my old self now and bossing everyone about.
Has it sunk in yet, what you’ve achieved?
To be honest it hasn’t sunk in what I’ve achieved in boxing but it has in terms of what I’ve been able to do in terms of making people smile.
We’ve had two years of twitching curtains with Covid and this allowed people to go out to laugh and put their arms around each other. That’s been great.
I have been thinking about the journey in boxing and how I got to this point but not really that it’s an Olympic Gold medal.
People are still smiling and it’s so genuine. People will forget what you’ve done but they won’t forget how you made them feel.
Walking past the parent’s house on Saturday, what was it like for them in all the spotlight?
Normal people knocking on the door they were great with but there was a lot of media and they were kind of uneasy with that cause they were afraid they might say the wrong thing. But it’s died down now so that’s fine.
The house has become part of the Croke Park tour now, how does that feel?
It’s mad. Maybe we should turn the front room into a coffee shop and serve out the window. I do like the GAA and I’ll be following our girls now for their All Ireland Final.
You mentioned before you were looking forward to chilling on the couch, what have you been watching?
When I travel I always like to record, and now don’t judge me on this, but I love Fair City. I watch some when I’m away and I know it’s not real but hearing the Dublin voices makes me feel good. So I’ve been catching up on them while I was sitting on the couch, eating biscuits and eating all the cakes that people have been dropping in. It’s been great but I’ll have to go up to another weight if I keep on eating them…
What was it like Going for Gold when you’ve already secured a bronze and then silver? What’s the mentality?
I honestly feel like I’m winning at life. Like first I’ve qualified for the Olympic Games, and then I’ve won a bronze medal, sure this must be a fluke. And then I’ve won Silver and I’m boxing in an Olympic Final. I’d said it to John, my coach, ‘I’m boxing in an Olympic Final, me like,” and he said of course you are and you deserve it.
It was kind of like a normal fight. I wasn’t really aware of what was going on back home. Me Ma and mandy were telling me bits but I didn’t really get a sense of the happiness and the smiles.
What are you thinking about now in terms of Paris or the Pros?
I never imagined I could get to this point. If you work hard and you make sacrifices then good things happen but honestly, I don’t know yet. I’ve had some offers already but I need to make sure that I make the right decision for me, for mandy and the family.
I do need to make a decision soon though because I need to get back into training.
If you do go Pro, there will be the inevitable talk of you and Katie Taylor, how do you feel about that?
Katie Taylor is a phenomenal athlete but she does her thing and I do mine. I don’t be thinking about her and she’s just not been on my radar. This is kind of my time now and she’ll have her times but when I do what I do it will be my decision.
How much did you analyse the fighters you might have come up against?
I don’t look at the draw but I knew that Beatrice and myself would be up near the top of the seeds. I had plenty to think about in terms of getting to a point where we might meet.
My coaches are great and they look at the boxers and figure out a way of fighting each opponent. I texted my club coach Noel Burle straight after the quarter-final then I ask, what’s next. Himself, Zaur and John are nearly always together and I just have to go in the ring and execute the plan.
You’ve been a proud member of the LGBT community, is that something that is important to you?
I’m just me and Mandy’s just Mandy and we are in a relationship, living life but my sexuality hasn’t really anything to do with the medal.
Has your day-to-day life changed since you came back?
It’s funny, a lot of people recognise me now. You’ll hear them whisper and then they come up for a selfie but that’s great to see the smiles.
You’ve described boxing as your discipline and your medication. Do you think the biggest part of all this might be the thousands of young girls now heading to boxing clubs because of you?
Imagine if I’m sitting down in my 60’s and I see someone talking about how they are boxing at an Olympics now because of what Kellie Harrington did.
We will have a lot more and we have to get the proper funding to bring them in. We need to remember youth clubs as well. When I was young they helped get me into the sport and we really need to support those kinds of areas within communities that can make a really important difference.
She really is a wonderful personality and deserving of every accolade that will come her way.
Is it time to take your place alongside the 250+ members of the Sport for Business network of sporting and business organisations working together across a number of key areas in the commercial world of Irish Sport?
Download our latest membership brochure here.
Sport for Business Partners
