Kellie Harrington has become the first woman to join an exclusive club of Irish athletes who have won medals at more than one Olympic Games.
The Dublin boxer defeated Colombian Angie Valdas Pana by unanimous decision yesterday to secure at least a bronze medal at the Paris Games, adding to the gold medal she won in Tokyo three years ago.
Speaking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, her father Christy said he was so proud of his daughter and the way she boxed.
He said her achievement is all the more meaningful by the way her opponent reacted, saying she was fighting for an Olympic medal and "was smiling because she knew she was beaten by a great boxer".
Mr Harrington travelled to Paris with his sons Christopher and Joel to watch his daughter compete in her first fight on Monday night, saying the atmosphere was brilliant.
Kellie's brother Christopher said seeing his sister become a double Olympian was a "surreal feeling".
He added that he feels that "Kellie always has what it takes, but it's sport and in any sport anyone can beat anybody on the day.
"And I think if Kellie's in the right mindset, she's very difficult to beat also."
Christopher said he believes the prospect of an Olympic gold is within reach for his sister, but her focus will be on recovery and preparation.
"She won't be thinking of gold or silver. She'll be thinking, okay, in the next hour I need to recover. I need to get ... protein. I need to stretch. I need to eat ... and that's her mindset. It's process, process, process and that's how she thinks."
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Kellie Harrington's bronze will be upgraded to at least silver if she can win her 60kg semi-final bout on Saturday.
She is just the fourth athlete - and second boxer - to achieve the Olympic double for Ireland, joining hammer thrower Pat O'Callaghan, boxer Paddy Barnes and rower Paul O'Donovan.
Harrington's semi-final will be a rematch of the Tokyo 2020 final.
She was a 5-0 winner when she met Brazil's Beatriz Ferreira three years ago and must repeat that victory for a shot at retaining her gold medal.
