Ireland woke up this morning to watch Kelly Harrington secure a gold medal in the Olympic lightweight boxing final in Tokyo.

Harrington from Portland Row finished strong to defeat the reigning world champion Beatriz Ferreira of Brazil via unanimous decision and become only the third Irish boxer to win an Olympic gold medal, following in the footsteps of Michael Carruth and Katie Taylor.

One of the key figures behind Harrington's success was her fellow Dubliner and eight-time All-Ireland SFC winner Kevin McManamon.

Kevin McManamon, pictured fourth from right, with Aidan Walsh after receiving his Olympic bronze medal. ©INPHO/James Crombie.

McManamon has been working with Ireland's boxing team as a performance coach in recent years and took time out of his commitments with Dessie Farrell's Dublin squad to attend the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The 34-year-old St Jude's clubman, who hasn't lined out for the Dubs since last year's Leinster SFC final, is expected to link up with the Sky Blues this week ahead of Saturday's All-Ireland semi-final showdown with rivals Mayo.

Meanwhile, a former performance and lifestyle coach with the Dublin senior footballers under Jim Gavin, Bernard Dunne is high-performance director with the IABA.

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