Four short years ago, Lawrence Okolie was working in McDonald’s and classed as clinically obese. The Oympics to him, then, were just something that were on TV.
But now Okolie is the one on TV after completely transforming his life. The 23-year-old is currently in Rio where he’s competing in the Olympics for Team GB as a heavyweight boxer.
Now, his Road to Rio is to be turned into a documentary.
The inspiring journey saw Okolie take up boxing mainly to lose weight, only to end up competing for his nation.
Rio so far has been good to him, with a victory over Poland’s Igor Jakubowski setting up a fight against Cuba’s Erislandy Savon – an opponent he suffered a first round knockout against earlier this year.
Okolie said: “In the two months since that last fight, we worked on a few things and if I show those things there’s no reason why I shouldn’t come out on top.”
The Londoner was inspired on his journey after watching Anthony Joshua win gold at London 2012, and underlined his surge to prominence by clattering his way to gold at the European Olympic qualifier in Turkey in May.
His fierce determination didn’t stop there though. Speaking from Rio, Okolie said: “Winning a gold medal here is not about scraping by or getting lucky â it’s about being able to beat everyone.
“If I can beat the people who are in front of me, I’ll get a gold. If I can’t I don’t deserve it. That’s where I’m at mentally. To become a legend, you have to do legendary stuff. This is just part of the journey to become a legend.”
See if that doesn’t inspire you…
