Kellie Harrington guaranteed medal after win over Khelif

Kellie Harrington has guaranteed herself an Olympic lightweight medal after beating Algeria’s Imane Khelif on a unanimous decision to win bronze.

Khelif was tall, with a big reach and awkward style, but top seed Harrington was patient and found a way through the Algerian’s defences.

The first round was won by Harrington with four of the five judges backing the Dubliner.

An open lace caused her to fall in the middle of the second round, but it didn’t disrupt the 31-year-old as she picked off punches on her opponent. She was awarded the round by all five judges.

Harrington lands a blow on Khelif.

It meant Harrington was as good as through heading into the last round. But she delivered once more, getting the backing of all the judges, to book her progress through to the semi-final of her division.

Before the decision was announced, the Dublin boxer went back to Zaur Antia and John Conlan in the corner and told them ‘I have a feeling’ as the Black Eyed Peas song of the same name blasted over the PA system.

Her bronze is Ireland’s fourth medal of the games after Aidan Walsh’s boxing bronze, gold for the lightweight sculls pair of Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan, plus bronze for the women’s four in rowing.

Next up is a semi-final bout with Thailand’s Sudaporn Seesondee, who beat Britain’s Caroline Dubois. That silver medal fight will take place at 6am Irish time on Thursday.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *