Kellie Harrington announces she is coming out of retirement: 'Normal is not for me'

Dublin boxer and two-time Olympic gold medallist, Kellie Harrington, has decided to come out of retirement.

Kellie saddened fans last year when she announced her decision to retire from the sport after the 2024 Olympic games in Paris.

She went out with a bang, securing the gold medal after she defeated China's Yang Wenlu on a 4:1 split decision.

She also won a gold medal at the 2020 Olympics, which were held in Tokyo in 2021 due to the Covid pandemic.

Now, she has revealed that's she is ready to step back into the ring. "I've had a year of living somewhat normal, and normal is not for me. It's just not for me, for now.

"Every fight I have, I put so much pressure on myself. I can't wait to fight – and then, come three, four weeks before the fight, I'm wondering why I do it. 'Why am I still here? What the hell am I at?'

"And I suppose then after the Olympics, I just announced my retirement. But that’s the good thing about life, we’re allowed to make our minds up, we’re allowed to change them again and make it back up and change it again."

Kellie went on to say she will be turning 36 in December, which made her think 'why not?'.

"I’m saying nothing about the [next] Olympics or anything like that. Everybody knows me. I'll never say anything about winning or going to the Olympics. I always look at one fight at a time, one competition at a time. And that’s exactly what I'm doing," she told the Irish Times.

Kellie had to consult her wife Mandy before she made the huge decision to return to the ring, and Mandy wasn't happy to hear the news. "When I told Mandy, she says, ‘Look, I’m obviously not happy. I don’t want you to go back.’ And I was like, I was just speechless looking at her. Then I was like, ‘Why?’ She says, ‘Because you’re not the easiest person to live with when you’re in it.’”

“It’s just like, ‘Yeah, you’re not the easiest person to live with when you’re in preparation mode and you’re fully focused.’ And she’s right! I’m not. There’s no doubt about that."

However, Mandy said she will always support Kellie no matter what. "If Mandy didn’t support me, then I wouldn’t be doing it. Because you can’t. I couldn’t do this without Mandy. It’s impossible. If you don’t have somebody there – your partner, your wife, your husband, whoever – backing you the whole way, then who else is going to back you?”

The boxer revealed she is planning on fighting in the Nationals in the new year, as well as taking part in an exhibition fight in the Round Room in the Mansion House in December.