The Commonwealth Games is just the beginning for many athletes. For its latest campaign, The Start Line, Team England has selected a handful of rising stars who came to the fore at Birmingham 2022, looking back on their moment of success and hearing first-hand how they felt in that moment and how they hope it can set them up for future success.

Team England sat down with boxing Commonwealth champion Delicious Orie who secured a Commonwealth Gold in his first appearance in the super heavy-weight category.

 

Delicious, who grew up in Russia, moved to Wolverhampton at the age of seven and only considered boxing when he turned eighteen: ‘’I didn’t know anything about boxing until I was eighteen, I just got in and got stuck with it.’’

Orie admits his aspirations for his future in the sport have always been high, sharing with his former boxing coach that he strived to be the best in the sport, and aspired to become a Commonwealth champion, despite never sparring before.

He shared his admiration for Anthony Joshua disclosing his desire to emulate his success and follow in his footsteps: ‘’I was inspired initially at eighteen years old, by Anthony Joshua, I remember seeing him for the first time on TV, I didn’t know who he was so seeing him for the first time, I was like I want to do that, I want to follow in his footsteps’’.

Delicious attained a super-heavy weight title during the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, in his debut performance. Recalling how he felt winning his first ever Commonwealth Gold medal, he shares: ‘’The Commonwealth Games has got me a lot more experience, I was able to face guys that who are at an international level and was able to deal with the pressures that came with it and has set me up to chase that next gold’’.

Delicious’ journey at Birmingham 2022 marks just the beginning for this rising star and undoubtedly, we can expect more achievements from him in the future.