Olympic Profile - Lawrence Okoye (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Croydon's Lawrence Okoye

3:24pm Thursday 2nd August 2012 in Olympic Profiles By Nick Hitchens

Name: Lawrence Okoye

Age: 20

Event: Men’s Discus

Location: The Athletics Stadium Olympic Park, Stratford Time: Qualification Monday August 6 10am Local Link:

Born and raised in Croydon

Career Best: British record holder; 68.24m

Career High: London 2012 will be his first Olympic Games

Sporting Background: A former Whitgift School pupil, Lawrence played rugby with Wasps at junior level before switching to distance throwing.

He deferred plans to study law at Oxford University and continue his rugby career to focus on the discus.

He says: "I’m not the kind of person who wants to be average.

"Whatever I do I want to make sure I’m the best. I wouldn’t be doing discus if I didn’t think I could perform to the highest level.

"I was attracted to discus by London 2012. I’m not going to shy away from it now. "I’m going to seize my chance, do my best and hopefully make a name for myself."

We say: "World record holder Gerd Kanter is the man to beat, winning the Aviva London Grand Prix earlier this month while Lawrence took third. If he hits his best though, a medal could be heading home to Croydon."