‘Target on my Back’ – World best lightweights take aim at Champ Kellie Harrington
Kellie Harrington is doing all she can to ensure she goes from the woman to beat to the woman that can’t be beat in Paris 2024.
The reigning Olympic lightweight champion feels she has a big target on her back going into the Paris Games.
In the tournaments sandwiched between Olympiads, the Dublin favourite has noticed a real desire to knock her off 60kg top spot, going as far as to suggest some of her rivals have even resorted to ‘dirty tactics’ in a bid to inflict defeat on her.
The 33-year-old is well aware the desire to get one over on her will only increase in next Summer’s Olympics and the Olympic, World and European gold medal is using that as motivation as she trains through the winter months.
Harrington, who will be fancied to become the first two-time gold medal winner in Ireland’s most successful Olympic sport, isn’t resting on her world #1 laurels and is working hard to make incremental improvements every day.
“My motivation comes from the fact I have a target on my back at the moment,” she said speaking in the IABA’s The Last Mile is Always Crowded piece.
“I really need to work hard, as I am the target. I just wanna’ be better, every day. Not by a long mile, but by a very, very small percent; not even one percent, smaller than that. And, as long as I keep making those little small adjustments, then, I’ll be happy – but, if I can’t make the adjustments, then we have to go back and we have to wonder why and try and fix that problem. My motivation is that I am the target and I’ll have to keep getting better, keep improving. Bit by bit. Day by day.”
Eleven-time Irish champion Harrington, who is one of five Irish boxers already qualified for Paris, has also doubled down on claims that the 2024 Olympics will be her last international tournament.
“This time next year, it will be time to hang the gloves up and help some of the younger generation and some of the girls and boys who are coming through now to be able to give back,” she said.
