Kellie Harrington is one win away from becoming a back-to-back Olympic medallist as she eased to victory over Italy's Alessia Mesiano at the Paris Games.
Making her debut at the 2024 edition, the reigning 60kg, lightweight champion was in fine form as she eased to a 5:0 unanimous decision win to move into the quarter-finals.
Mesiano did not make it easy for Harrington, however, the Dubliner's style and skill made it look effortless against her come-forward opponent.
Leading with a strong left jab from the opening exchanges, Harrington took control of the middle of the ring and when the Italian did come forward, she had to take some serious shots in an attempt to land some scoring shots.
But Harrington's fighting off the back foot proved perfect as she took a 5:0 score from the judges in the first round, and followed it up with a similarly impressive performance in the second round as she again took the verdicts of all five judges.
The Tokyo gold medallist eased down through the gears in the final round as Mesiano was unable to cause the shock that she would have needed to turn the result around, and in the end, it proved futile as Harrington stayed out of trouble to move into the next round where she will fight for a place on the podium on Wednesday.
Speaking after the fight, Harrington said competing in the Olympics "is what I love".
"It was a fantastic fight, Alessia is a really smooth operator so it was great to get in there and to be able to take the win.
"What is there? Seven-and-a-half billion people in the world or something like that? I know back home I won't be passing too many double Olympians on my street so history is made," she said.
Throughout the bout Harrington frequently switched between orthodox and southpaw stances.
"I was fresh out of the womb when I was switch hitting," Harrington said.
"The key was to get my jab working, try and implement my fight."
She also thanked the very vocal Irish fans in the arena who supported her during the fight.
"No matter where you go in the world, the Irish come out of the woodwork so it’s great."
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