Kellie Harrington has revealed she almost didn't make it to the Paris Olympics earlier this year.
The Dublin native won a gold medal in the Olympics, but she had previously asked if her place in the competition could go to another Irish boxer.
Kellie opened up about how "difficult challenges" in her personal life cast doubt on her boxing future.
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Kellie had come close to dropping out after the death of her father-in-law, and losing her beloved dog soon thereafter.
Mandy Loughlin, who Kellie has been married since 2022, lost her father John suddenly in December last year, while their pet passed away in January.
"People think you're just this athlete and you don't do anything else other than box, but you have a personal life," said Kellie. "I have a family, I have a wife, I have dogs, I have a mortgage. Stuff happens and stuff happened in the last three years and it was hard."
Speaking on Ryan Tubridy's podcast, The Bookshelf, she said: "I was thinking of giving it up, I was thinking, 'There's so much more to life than boxing, I need to live life'. That's the way I was feeling.
"I wouldn't give the spot back to the [Olympic] committee if they were giving it to another country, but if I could give it up to another Irish girl, she could have it."
She went so far as to ask the committee if it would be possible for another Irish woman to take her place, but they explained they couldn't do that.
Kellie admitted she was glad they refused, as she went on to win gold for Ireland after beating China's Wenlu Yang in the 60kg weight category, defending her gold from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
After announcing that the Olympics would be her last hurrah and she was retiring internationally, she confirmed that she is looking ahead to life after boxing.
"The next chapter is going to be my life chapter. It's for me and Mandy now to do what we're doing," said Kellie. However, she did say that a move into a career in media could be possible, as she would love to present a TV show about rehoming rescue dogs.
English (US) ·