Neighbours Celebrate An Olympic Champion!

Already the first Irish woman to win medals in two Olympics, pride was running high.
And then she went for the gold and Diamond Park erupted in thunderous whoops of joy.

Diamond Park -- located just a hop, skip and jump from Portland Row in Dublin's north inner city, where Irish boxer Kellie Anne Harrington, 34, grew up -- was the scene of much excitement and adrenaline, as Kellie's entire neighbourhood gathered to watch, on a giant screen, her final fight at the Paris Olympics 2024 with China's tough-looking Yang Wenlu.

Hundreds cheerfully gathered to view the bout wearing Irish flags and colours, waving the country's tricolour and signs, as songs of celebration played. Little children on their papas' shoulders waved flags. Several dogs joined in the fun.

Crowds boisterously chanted "Kellie! Kellie!" or "Ole! Ole!" when they first spied her face on the screen and the pitch just kept increasing as round after round took her closer to the gold.

The smell of marijuana hung strong in the air and contributed to the high levels of jubilation.

"Go Kellie!" and "C'mon Kellie!" went the pumped up folks, pronouncing Kellie with that particular quaint Irish intonation.

Already the first Irish woman to win medals in two Olympics, after winning a bronze on Saturday, pride was running high.

And then she went for the gold and Diamond Park erupted in thunderous whoops of joy.

"Wasn't she great?? She is gonna walk down Portland Row," cooed many.

Kellie had promised that whether she won or lost, she would walk the streets to her home with her medals, rather than board and ride the victory bus.

Harrington got her start at St Mary's Boxing Club, at nearby Tallaght. She was first told at 15 that being a girl prevented her from becoming a member of a boxing club. Kellie was having nothing of that and insisted she be accepted and rapidly built a career in boxing.

Post the Olympics, Harrington, who is married to fellow boxer Mandy Loughlin since 2022, had announced earlier that she would be back at her job at St Vincent's Psychiatric Hospital in Dublin, where she cleans for a living.

'Whether I win or lose I am going to go home to a great family and an absolutely brilliant community,' she told the Irish Independent newspaper. 'I know my community is super proud of me. Whether I win or lose, they're part of me and I'm part of them and I honestly can't wait to get home and celebrate with them.'

Folks living around Diamond Park and Portland Row now eagerly await her return from Paris.

• THE OLYMPICS, 2024

Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com
Feature presentation: Mahipal Soni/Rediff.com