funny old sport Irish hero Kellie Harrington teams up with Roddy Doyle to write her autobiography

Olympic gold medallist Kellie Harrington has announced that she is writing an autobiography with help from the legendary Dublin author Roddy Doyle.

The boxer said she was “super excited” to be telling her story and the book will be released in October.

“I am writing my autobiography with Roddy Doyle to be published by @penguinIEbooks in October. I'm super excited about this and I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it,” she posted on Twitter.

The 32-year-old worked hard for many years to reach the top of her sport.

In 2016 she won a silver medal in the light welterweight division at the World Championships.

She became world champion in New Delhi in 2018 and also won a bronze medal at the European Championships that year.

In 2019 she won silver at the European Games in Minsk, but she suffered a hand injury in that semi-final which forced her out of the subsequent European championships.

Harrington returned to competition, for the first time in seven months, at the 2020 Strandja tournament in Bulgaria, where she lost the final to Mira Potkonen.

In 2021 she won another silver at Strandja and then won gold at the final Olympic qualifying event in Paris in June, where her quarter-final victory over IBF super-featherweight world champion Maiva Hamadouche clinched her an Olympic spot.

On August 8, 2021, she defeated the highly-rated Brazilian boxer Beatriz Ferreira to be crowned world Olympic boxing champion at the deferred 2020 games in Tokyo.

Harrington grew up in the Portland Row area of Dublin 1 and her success brought the inner city neighbourhood into the national spotlight, as people travelled from far and wide to celebrate her latest achievement with her friends and family there.

Harrington has spoken openly about her love for the area, her desire to help young people and to inspire them through sport and community work.

Doyle is best known for his books which celebrate the lives of ordinary Dubliners.

The three books in his Barrytown Trilogy - The Commitments, The Snapper and The Van - were all made into feature films.

In 2014 he co-wrote the Roy Keane autobiography The Second Half.

Kellie Harrington has been engaged to her long-term partner Mandy Loughlin for 11 years and she has spoken recently of their desire to move back to the Dublin 1 area.

Harrington - who turned down the chance to turn professional after winning the Olympic gold and instead hopes to compete at the 2024 Olympics in Paris – has said the couple are struggling to get on the property ladder like many others around the country.