Kellie Harrington will fight to defend her gold medal at Paris 2024 after beating her Tokyo 2020 final opponent Beatriz Ferreira in the semi-final of the women's 60kg division.
The split decision victory, 4-1 on the judges' cards over the Brazilian, means the 34-year-old has secured at least silver and now has given herself the opportunity to try and join Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy as the only Irish athletes to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals since Pat O’Callaghan in the men’s hammer throw at the 1928 and 1932 Games.
The final will take place on Tuesday at Roland Garros against China's Yang Wenlu, who beat Wu Shih-yi of Chinese Taipei by unanimous decision earlier on Saturday.
Going into the semi-final, Harrington had already made history by becoming the first Irish female athlete to medal at more than one Olympic Games.
The last Team Ireland fighter left in the running at Paris 2024, Harrington had already secured at least bronze on Wednesday by advancing to the semi-finals.
At Tokyo 2020, Harrington beat Ferreira by unanimous decision to win gold and three years on, it was a closer fight.
In the first round of their semi-final reunion at the Arena Paris Nord in Saturday's final bout of the night, she started strongly, catching Ferreira with a jab to the face after just 15 seconds.
She got through the Brazilian’s guard again with just over a minute gone and was countering Ferreira’s advances well.
A left over the top also found its mark and she was rewarded for her first round showing as the judges awarded it to her 4-1.
The second saw Ferreira try to close the distance but Harrington continued to steer clear of significant trouble and again responded well.
A left jab caught Ferreira on the chin as the second round ticked into the final minute and another left in the closing stages landed but the judges scored it 3-2 to Ferreira.
Harrington led on two of the cards and trailed on one as a close final round began but she saw it out in style, taking the final round 5-0 to win by split decision and advance to the final.
"I actually have no words, I'm speechless, it's not often that happens," she told RTÉ Sport afterwards. "In my head I visualised her coming at me, like that.
"I think she tried to outbox me.
"I felt good, I felt happy, at one stage she hit me with her head, and I thought my tooth was after coming out, but they are still there, thank God.
"She's an incredible fighter, a world champion pro."
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