PARTY TIME
Like a zombie – Kellie Harrington reveals how she and wife Mandy celebrated late into night at Olympics Village
She documented the night's festivities, starting with leaving the arena at 2am and heading for a bite to eat
KELLIE HARRINGTON admitted she was "like a zombie around the Olympic Village" after she and wife Mandy celebrated her gold medal long into the night.
The 34-year-old was crowned double Olympic champion with a stylish win over Wenlu Yang at Roland Garros on Tuesday night.
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There was a strong Irish contingent at the venue, including her brothers Chris and Joel, and her wife Mandy.
After the fight, Harrington shared in a loving embrace with Mandy before celebrating with her in the Olympic Village.
She recalled the celebrations on Morning Ireland on Thursday morning, admitting that the first port of call was drug testing that she was glad to do.
"I had to go an do anti-doping so you have to get tested, which is great.
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"It's absolutely vital that everyone gets tested."
From there, she documented the night's festivities, starting with leaving the arena at 2am and heading for a bite to eat.
The Dubliner added: "We went and had a McDonalds, but it was like a 'meet and greet' in McDonalds.
"It was just loads of French people but it was really great.
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"I didn’t get a wink of sleep until last night so from five o’clock of the [Tuesday] morning I weighed in until half eleven last night I hadn’t slept."
Portland Row's favourite daughter admitted that the consequence was being so tired that she was "like a zombie walking around the Olympic village."
Dublin park erupts with pride as local hero Kellie Harrington wins boxing gold
But she was grateful to have been able to show Mandy around the area and share in the joy with her.
She beamed: "I was delighted to see Mandy, we got her into the Olympic Village on a day pass so she got to experience that as well.
"[My phone is] hopping. There are just so many people and I’ll be forever grateful for all the support, from at home and from people out here as well. It’s actually a bit overwhelming as well."
HEART OF GOLD
Mandy served as a profound source of inspiration for Kellie, and not just due to her presence in the stands at Roland Garros.
Harrington revealed: “Mandy gives me a little package and it has loads of little photographs in it of people that I love, and good memories that I’ve had, and I take them out and then she leaves me a really positive card.
“I read that, and then I put them all on the wall, because she also puts Blu-Tack in the gift.
“Then I have Post-Its and every day I’ll write something on it like, ‘I know I can’, and I’ll stick it on the wall.
“I don’t know if it’s even a word but ‘Fluidity’ and I put that on the wall.
“’Professional’ stick it on the wall. ‘Smile’ is on the wall. ‘Happiness’ and before I leave this week. I’ll say I have about 20 of them on the wall now. I’ll read them all and I say them out loud.”
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In spite of being fatigued on the morning after the night before, Kellie Harrington still took the time to visit a local care home.
Photos from the visit were shared to social media by the Team Ireland account on X with the caption: "Kellie taking her medal to the local care home next to the Olympic village this morning"
Winning Team Ireland's fourth gold medal represented a perfect way to say goodbye to boxing for Harrington, who confirmed her retirement immediately after the bout.
When it comes to what will come next, she has previously told us that she is merely looking forward to the little things.
She said: "I'm looking forward to retiring and having normality in my life and being able to do the things that normal people do because what we do is not normal.
"Me and Mandy are talking about when I'm finished boxing internationally, that we can do normal things and I don’t have to be worrying about weight and worrying about how much energy I'm wasting walking or going out to watch a concert.
"It's those normal little things that people take for granted that I'm really looking forward to having."