Grainne’s joy at seeing close friend Kellie win gold!

Tullamore boxer hoping to follow in Olympic hero's footsteps

When Olympic hero Kellie Harrington landed back on home soil on Tuesday, one of her closest friends, Tullamore's Grainne Walsh, was at the airport to welcome her home.

A fellow elite-level boxer, Grainne has roomed with Kellie on numerous trips abroad with the Irish team and was absolutely thrilled to see her shine so brightly on sport's biggest stage.

"There's nobody more deserving of this success, especially after Kellie had been in the shadow of Katie Taylor for a couple of years," said Grainne.

"Nothing at this level comes easy. Kellie has been working away behind the scenes and when she got her big break she held her spot and has been so consistent for the last couple of years.

"Obviously I'm a proud best friend here, cheering her on and hoping to follow in her footsteps myself."

After suffering setbacks over the last year and a half, due to injury and the pandemic, Grainne just returned to training with the high-performance unit in Dublin on Monday.

The following day she headed to the airport with some of the other boxers to greet Kellie after she landed.

"They weren't encouraging the public to come to the airport, given the restrictions. It was very family-orientated, with people from boxing clubs and stuff, so it was a nice little gathering.

"Everyone was obviously pulling out of Kellie and trying to see the gold medal. We just got a quick glimpse of the medal, and got to give her a hug, but it was great to be there, and for her to see that we were there supporting her.

"They were after travelling for 20-hours straight, so I'd say they were all exhausted. It's been a bit of a whirlwind for them all."

Asked about her friendship with Kellie, Grainne said she got on well with the Dubliner from when she first made it onto the Irish boxing team five years ago.

"My first major competition was at the worlds (in 2016), where Kellie got her first major medal. I was her roommate for that experience, and since then she's been medalling at nearly all the major tournaments.

"Myself and Kellie have a very good friendship, and I'm looking forward to getting to spend a bit of time with her and just doing some normal things together.

"I'm sure, after making weight for so long, she'll be looking forward to going out for some grub now, so when she's fully recharged I'll get to meet up with her, hopefully."

Grainne admitted that she was nervous ahead of Kellie's final on Sunday morning.

"I knew what she was up against. (Brazil's) Beatriz Ferreira is a force to be reckoned with, so I knew that Kellie would have to produce a career-best performance and that's exactly what she did.

"It was very emotional, even for my mother and father (Geraldine and Gerry), because we all know Kellie on a personal level.

"I had been with her through the hard times as well, like when she got injured in 2019, so I've seen the ups and downs, and have seen how hard she worked and the resilience she's shown in the last couple of years."

There has been some speculation about whether Kellie will now turn professional or choose to remain on as an amateur boxer.

"It's very hard to tell. I don't think anybody knows, not even Kellie herself," said Grainne. "She is on such a high now. She won't make any rash decisions in the next couple of weeks. She will have to just wait and see what kind of offers come to her, and what suits her life best."

Grainne herself has been out of the ring for almost two years, having last boxed at the National Championships in November 2019.

After her recent setbacks she's more determined than ever to get back to the top, and has her sights set on the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024.

"I'm looking forward to the challenges ahead," she said. "You will see a lot of kids signing up in the gyms now to be the next Kellie Harrington, but everyone's on their own journey and I'm just going to put the head down and work hard.

"I'm 25 now, so I haven't even hit my prime yet. I feel it's in the later 20s that females, especially, reach their prime.

"Once you're enjoying it, staying injury free and having the craic, that's a massive part of it. There's no point in doing this if you're not enjoying it, and you could see that with Kellie. She was loving the whole experience and lapping it up."

There's uncertainty about when Grainne might be boxing next, but it looks like there will be a women's world championships either later this year or early in 2022, and an Irish national championships is also on the horizon.

"Changes happen after every Olympic cycle. They're trying to figure out a new women's weight (division) to bring in, so everything is a bit all over the place at the moment.

"I haven't sparred in a long time, so my next challenge will be having a full-contact spar, building on my fitness, and bringing the weight down bit-by-bit. When the next competition comes around, there could be a new Grainne Walsh!"