New Olympic gold medallist Kellie Harrington insists she will be back at work in St Vincent’s Hospital in Fairview within the next couple of weeks despite her historic success in Tokyo today when she became only the third Irish boxer ever to win an Olympic gold medal.
“I’m an Olympic champion, but it doesn’t define me as a person. I’ll be home, I’d say it will be a bit mental, but I will be going back to work, either in two weeks or three weeks," she said.
"We’ll have to wait and see on that one and ask Karen and Linda first, when are they going to let me back in.
"I’ll be back to work and doing my normal thing and that keeps me grounded. My circle is very small and it will be staying very small."
She said there will probably be a "little party" for her at work in St Mary’s ward. "So I am looking forward to that and I will be bringing the medal to work," she said.
“I just want to keep doing what I’m doing. There’s nothing going to change from here out. I’m not going to be changing from here out.
“I’m not going to be thinking I'm something I’m not. I’ll just continue to be this way apart from having me gold medal and that’s it. I’m not going to change. Everything stays the same, my feet stay on the ground. I’ll go back to work, have a bit of a break, go home, eat loads of Base Pizza."
She also revealed that the lightweight Olympic final bout against Beatriz Ferreira went exactly as the Irish coaching team had anticipated.
“That’s exactly what they had said. John (Conlan) and Zaur (Anita) had it to a tee and Noel Burke, my club coach had it to a tee. They work together," she said.
“My club coach and the high-performance coaches work together and when they work together this is what happens. This is everything going in harmony and here we are. I’m the product of my boxing club and the high-performance unit working together.
Harrington said she wasn’t concerned even when three of the judges scored the first round in her favour
“No, there’s no point in being concerned because if you get concerned you go out and start making mistakes and rushing things and getting caught. My opponent was fantastic, absolutely fantastic.
“A great counter-puncher, very, very strong and you got to keep calm and composed and fight your fight, no someone else’s. That’s the key to performance. Perform well and the rest will look after itself.”
“Obviously I do love that I have this medal but it is step by step to get there. Performance is key. If you don’t perform then you can’t move on to the next stage so there’s no point in setting goals. I don’t go out going, ‘I want a gold medal, I want a gold medal’ because if the s*** hits the fan then you don’t get anything.”
She said she wasn’t concerned when she went 2-3 down after the first round.
Concerned when down 3-2 after first?
“There’s no point in being concerned because if you get concerned you go out and start making mistakes and rushing things and getting caught," she said.
"My opponent was fantastic, absolutely fantastic. Great counter-puncher, very, very strong and you got to keep calm and composed and fight your fight, no someone else’s. That’s the key to performance. Perform well and the rest will look after itself.”
A tearful Harrington said she had no words to describe what it was like to have an Olympic gold medal.
"I have no words. Like, the hard work, dedication and sacrifice that has gone into this. The lonely moments, the tears," she said.
"My family knows, me coach know, the coaches here know. It hasn’t even hit yet. I am crying because I have a sense of relief to be honest with out. When I get back an in my room on my own or when I get up to the team it will hit. I am just relieved.
“I never have any expectations coming into tournaments. That’s the thing. Come in and expect to perform that is my expectations is performance. I control and do what I can do and focussing on me. Then good things happen when you can do all these little things.
“But expectations, I don’t really have any," she insisted.
Harrington also paid tribute to all her rivals in the lightweight division in Tokyo following her sensational victory.
The five ringside judges all scored the fight in favour of the Irish woman on a memorable morning for Irish sport and, not for the first time, Harrington was thinking of others.
"We are all champions. Anyone who stepped in between those ropes are champions. Every fight has been a gold medal fight..it’s just fantastic,” said Harrington afterwards.
After losing the first round, Harrington turned in a masterclass. "I’m absolutely exhausted to be honest. I’m like a fluffy pigeon going around at this stage I’m that grey,” she laughed.
"What a journey. It’s just fantastic, absolutely fantastic.
"There have been times in my career when people say the whole country is behind you. This time, I really, really feel like the whole country is behind me.
"People might say there is pressure and you have huge weight on your shoulders but I actually didn’t. I knew that no matter what happened here, whether it be gold or silver….I knew I’ve made myself proud and I made the people of Ireland proud regardless of the colour of the medal. Just being here and putting our little nation on the map, this is the stuff of dreams.
“I’m speechless again and thanks to the people back home for all the support. It really means the world to me and like I said, we are all champions here. I might have got the gold, but anyone who gets here is a champion.”
More to follow...