Kellie Harrington suffers first defeat in over three years in European semi-finals

Whatever about the immediate outcome or lasting repercussions this clearly wasn’t vintage Kellie Harrington, the Olympic champion losing her 60kg lightweight semi-final at the European Elite Championships in Belgrade on Thursday.

At times looking tired and certainly a little ragged, Harrington was defeated in a split decision by Natalia Shadrina from Serbia, fighting in front of her home crowd. Shadrina will now go on to contest the gold medal bout, while Harrington returns home with bronze, exactly three months out from Paris where she’ll look to defend her Olympic title.

It was her first defeat in over three years, and after 32 successive wins, the now 34-year-old last losing at the Strandja Memorial tournament in Sofia back in February 2021 to Nune Asatryan from Russia, although she recovered well from that in ample time for the delayed Tokyo Games five months later.

Shadrina was fully deserving of the win, and Harrington realised that too, harbouring a look of resignation as the split decision was announced. The Serbian fighter had lost her last two bouts to Harrington, including at last summer’s European Games in Poland, but now looks likely to win this title which Harrington captured in 2022.

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Harrington was marginally ahead after the first round, getting the vote of three judges, before things levelled up after the second round, Shadrina ahead on two cards, and Harrington ahead on just one.

Shadrina controlled the last round to ensure she got the decision, meaning Harrington still comes away with $5,000, with the silver medal winners getting a $10,000 award and the outright champion $15,000.

Two Irish boxers are still in the mix for gold after double Olympian Aoife O’Rourke assured herself of at least silver in the 75kg, while Mayo boxer Shannon Sweeney is also through to the final of the 50kg division.

O’Rourke, from Castlerea Boxing Club in Roscommon, scored a unanimous 5-0 semi-final win over her opponent, Turkey’s Isildar Busra, ensuring her prize of at least $10,000, and Sweeney looked similarly comfortable and in control in her 5-0 win over Armenia’s Anush Grigoryan. After a rest day on Friday, the finals will take place on Saturday and Sunday.

Like Harrington, Niamh Fay from the Phoenix of Ballyboughal club in Dublin also struggled in her 54kg bantamweight semi-final, beaten 5-0 in a scrappy contest by Romanian opponent Lacramioara Perijoc.

Harrington had looked a little shaky in her quarter-final on Tuesday, one of the four Irish women to advance from that session despite a slow start to her bout against Slovakia’s Ozer Gizem. However, Harrington shook herself for the second round to pull away and win her quarter-final 5-2 on the judges’ cards.

The 34-year-old still hopes to become the first Irish boxer to successfully defend an Olympic crown later this year, and only the second to do it in any sport after hammer thrower Dr Pat O’Callaghan in 1928 in Amsterdam and 1932 in Los Angeles. Rower Paul O’Donovan hopes to do likewise in the lightweight double sculls.

While athletes from Russia and Belarus have been competing in many international events in a neutral status, they are competing in Hungary under their country flag, with the event organised by the International Boxing Association, led by Russian official Umar Kremlev.

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