Kellie Harrington has become the first woman to join an exclusive club of Irish athletes who have won medals at more than one Olympic Games.
Harrington defeated Colombian Angie Valdas Pana by unanimous decision to secure at least a bronze medal at these Games, adding to the gold medal she won in Tokyo three years ago.
That bronze will be upgraded to at least silver if she can win her 60kg semi-final bout on Saturday.
The Dubliner is just the fourth athlete - and second boxer - to achieve the feat for Ireland, joining hammer thrower Pat O'Callaghan, boxer Paddy Barnes and rower Paul O’Donovan.
At the 1928 Amsterdam Games Pat O’Callaghan became the first person to win a gold medal for Ireland after independence from the UK.
He narrowly beat the second-place Swedish athlete Ossian Skiöld by 10cm while using Skiöld’s own hammer.
Despite Irish athletes winning gold medals whilst competing for Great Britain and Ireland, it was the first time the Irish tricolour and Amhrán na bhFiann was played at the medal ceremony.
O’Callaghan repeated his triumph again four years later at the 1932 Games in Los Angeles, where he was also Ireland’s flag bearer.
His winning margin was much more comfortable this time however, beating the second place Finn by almost 2m and the third place American by more than 3m.
A doctor by profession, he retired from international competition prior to the 1936 Berlin Games in Nazi Germany. He died in December 1991 at the age of 85.
Eighty years on from O’Callaghan becoming the first person to win a gold medal under the flag of Ireland, Paddy Barnes won bronze in the light flyweight division at Beijing 2008.
Barnes lost his semi-final bout to Chinese boxer Zou Shiming 15-0, who went on to claim gold for the host nation.
Four years later at London 2012, Barnes once again faced Shiming in a light flyweight semi-final and lost 45 to 44 in a countback after both fighters were tied at 15-15 on the judges’ cards.
However, despite this, Barnes won his second Olympic bronze medal and, in the process, joined Pat O’Callaghan in winning medals at two different Olympic Games for Ireland.
Skibbereen rower Paul O’Donovan was the most recent person to achieve this feat before Harrington did today.
At the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, O’Donovan won silver in the lightweight double sculls with his brother Gary.
It was the first rowing medal to be won by Ireland at the Olympic Games.
Paired with Fintan McCarthy at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021, the crew set the world best and Olympic best time of 6:05.33 in their semi-final.
In the final itself, the crew won gold ahead of the German and Italian crews.
However, while McCarthy has a chance to also join this exclusive club at these Games, O’Donovan could do something unprecedented and become the first Irish athlete to medal at three separate Olympic Games.
O'Donovan and McCarthy remain on course for back-to-back Olympic gold medals after they stormed to victory in their men's lightweight double sculls semi-final. The final will be held on Friday.
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