OLYMPIC CHAMPION KELLIE Harrington suffered her first defeat in over three years last month as she departed the European Championships in Belgrade with a bronze medal, but there was a degree to which this year’s continental competition more closely resembled a shadow-boxing tournament.

It is particularly pertinent for a boxer in their mid-30s: it would be folly to physically peak for championships taking place at a three-month remove from this summer’s Olympics. This year is about pitching up at Paris and defending the title that matters most.

And Harrington, while hardly chuffed to have had her 32-bout unbeaten run ended by Natalia Shadrina, hasn’t lost much sleep about it either.

Indeed, the Dubliner is not quite yet counting down the days until Paris. But she has begun her transition into ‘Olympic mode’.

“I just know it’s 11 weeks away,” Harrington says. “So the switch-on started last week; trying to switch on now and trying to prepare for the big show basically.

“It’s a long tunnel, and it’s been a wide tunnel because I qualified last year, in the European Games. And it’s been a long wait now, obviously. The focus hasn’t been there, but now it’s starting to shift — as of last week.

“And as it gets closer, the tunnel starts to narrow and get shorter.”

Irish boxer and Spar brand ambassador Kellie Harrington has once again teamed up with Spar for the launch of the Spar Stay in the Game campaign as part of Spar’s Community Fund 2024. David Fitzgerald / SPORTSFILE David Fitzgerald / SPORTSFILE / SPORTSFILE

Her path to Paris could not have unfurled in more stark contrast to that for Tokyo 2021, the Games for which Harrington finished her qualification campaign only a month and a half before her opening bout.

And this summer will also make for Harrington’s first full-on Olympic experience outside of the ring: the Tokyo Games, postponed by a year, took place amid extremely heavy Covid restrictions in Japan, meaning athletes competed in empty arenas and had to endure the Olympic village rather than enjoying it.

But Harrington, 34, will impose her own isolation rules when it comes to retaining her Olympic crown. Her sole intention is to be at full physical capacity when the first bell sounds for her 60kg defence.

“Yeah, it’s going to be so different,” Harrington says of Paris 2024. “Obviously, with a lot more people there, there’s going to be a lot more noise, outside noise, that will factor into your life and what you’re doing out there.

“What we’ll have to really do is try stay in control of what you’re doing out there, and your emotions, and your activity; that you’re not going off and meeting people and wasting energy.

“You need to be conserving all that for training and for competition and not, like, getting caught up with anything that’s going on at home, or outside the village, or in the village.

“Because I imagine it’ll be like an Irish invasion over there.”

Not least on the British boxing team, who hope to pit Irish great Amy Broadhurst against Harrington after the Dundalk woman officially switched allegiance in an effort to fulfil her own Olympic dream.

Broadhurst, who won World and European gold at light-welterweight (63kg) in 2022, was unable to overtake the reigning Olympic champion at her preferred weight of lightweight (60kg) during this Olympic cycle.

With light-welter not an Olympic weight, Broadhurst had to move up to welterweight (66kg) in pursuit of her own Olympic spot with Ireland. Through a combination of misfortune and strong competition from Gráinne Walsh, that particular dream never came to fruition.

Broadhurst, whose father was born in England but moved back to his mother’s hometown of Dundalk when he was 12, consequently switched to Team GB in April and was selected as Britain’s 60kg entry for the final qualifiers in Bangkok later this month.

If successful in Thailand, the 27-year-old will seek to replace her former Irish teammate on the lightweight throne this summer.

“To be honest with ya, I didn’t really have a reaction,” Harrington says of Broadhurst’s switch. “People saying, ‘Aw, y’know, yiz might face each other,’ and so on and so on.

“Look, I don’t know how many boxers are at my weight. I’m going to say 22 (Harrington’s correct). But if I was to think of just one person, that would be absolutely crazy. There are so many really, really good girls out there.

“The draw has to be done.”

Plus, Broadhurst still has to qualify this month before she can be considered a threat at all.

“That as well, yeah!” Harrington laughs. “Which I think she should do, y’know?

“But you cannot overlook anybody. The way I look at it is: I train now for different types of styles, and then the draw gets done, and then you go from there. That’s it. One day at a time and then one foot in front of the other, and then take it minute by minute when you get into the ring.”

Harrington (blue) beat Broadhurst in the 2018 Irish Elite final to stake her 60kg supremacy for the Tokyo Olympic cycle. Bryan Keane / INPHO Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO

Asked if she was surprised by Broadhurst’s switch of vest, Harrington replies simply: “No.”

She hadn’t caught wind of it beforehand, either, she insists. She “just wasn’t surprised.”

Though they leant into their rivalry after Harrington beat Broadhurst in the 2018 national final, Harrington insists that she and her new British challenger have since become “good friends”. Broadhurst, for example, was brought to Tokyo to help to prepare Harrington for what transpired to be her crowning glory to date, and the Dundalk woman hasn’t been directly competing with Harrington in the three years since.

“There’s no bad blood or bad feelings towards Amy. She was a teammate. We don’t really have bad blood in Team Ireland…” Harrington laughs, realising Broadhurst is no longer a member of that particular team. “And beyond!”

One knock-on complication from Broadhurst’s defection, however, is that she is openly in a relationship with one of Ireland’s coaches, Eoin Pluck, whose own loyalties in the 60kg division will now naturally switch to his partner.

“I suppose… he won’t be involved with me,” Harrington says. “D’you know? Which is a shame because he’s a great coach.

“But, I mean, you can’t have that, like. Essentially, it’s a spy in the camp. So, you can’t have that.”

As for whether Pluck will corner anyone on the Irish team while his partner boxes for their nearest rivals, Harrington untangles herself from a complex situation by joking that she has a sore throat and can no longer speak.

“I don’t know,” she eventually says. “He just won’t be coaching me.”

That picture will likely have cleared up by the time Harrington and the Irish team head for Assisi for a training camp at the start of July, by which stage the tunnel will have narrowed and shortened some more.

The SPAR Stay in the Game Campaign, which will run until 30 June 2024, encourages the public to nominate a post-primary school or club in their community that is doing great work in fostering the continued participation of girls in sport. Nominated clubs and schools will be in with a chance to win one of five €2,000 prizes and a unique opportunity to meet and engage with Kellie Harrington in an interactive SPAR Stay in the Game workshop. To nominate a post-primary school or club please visit www.spar.ie/communityfund