Kellie Harrington has decided to stay amateur and is targeting a shot at another Olympic gold at Paris 2024.
Harrington, 31, finished the Tokyo Games on a high for Team Ireland by winning gold in the ring, beating Brazilian opponent Beatriz Ferreira with a thrilling performance in the lightweight final.
On her return home, the Dubliner admitted that she was considering offers to turn professional or remaining a part of the high performance boxing unit led by Bernard Dunne.
Having weighed up her options and following talks with Dunne and her coaches, Harrington revealed on RTE's Late Late Show that she will be going for gold again in what is a massive boost to the IABA and Team Ireland.
She said: "Imagine if I'm sitting somewhere in my 60's and I turn on the telly and see a female boxing in an Olympic Games?
"Imagine if they turned around and said 'ah, this started back in 2021 when Kellie Harrington won a gold medal' - that would be incredible.
"We are going to get a lot more people through the doors of boxing clubs, but we also need a lot more funding to be able to facilitate that.
"Some of the facilities in some boxing clubs are quite run down so we do need funding to go in there."
Harrington said she hoped that her gold medal victory will be the catalyst for a wave of Irish youngsters taking up the sport.
"Imagine if I'm sitting somewhere in my 60's and I turn on the telly and see a female boxing in an Olympic Games?
"Imagine if they turned around and said 'ah, this started back in 2021 when Kellie Harrington won a gold medal' - that would be incredible.
"We are going to get a lot more people through the doors of boxing clubs, but we also need a lot more funding to be able to facilitate that.
"Some of the facilities in some boxing clubs are quite run down so we do need funding to go in there."
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