‘You can be anything’: Olympian Anthony Ogogo’s moving journey from boxer to motivational speaker
Anthony Ogogo is one of Britain’s most inspirational Olympian speakers and sporting figures. As a decorated middleweight boxer, he proudly represented Great Britain at the 2012 London Olympics, earning a bronze medal and capturing the nation’s heart with his resilience in and out of the ring.
A former Junior World Champion and Commonwealth Games silver medallist, Anthony’s promising professional career was cut short by a devastating eye injury. Yet, his refusal to be defined by adversity has made him a powerful voice for perseverance and transformation.
Beyond the ring, Anthony has become a compelling advocate for mental health, a rising media personality, and an in-demand motivational speaker. His journey from Lowestoft to the Olympic podium and through the challenges of vision loss and career reinvention is a testament to his grit, humility, and drive to inspire others.
In this exclusive interview with The Champions Speakers Agency, Anthony reflects on the mindset behind his Olympic success, how he overcame personal and professional setbacks, and what today’s businesses can learn from elite athletes about resilience, leadership, and winning against the odds.
Q: Resilience is often cited as a crucial trait in both elite sport and high-performance business. How do you personally navigate adversity and maintain your drive?
Anthony Ogogo: “I think it’s something from deep inside – an intestinal fortitude. I think it’s something you can develop, and I think it goes back to your ‘why’.
“Now, for me, my ‘why’ was always to win a medal at the Olympic Games, which I’m very lucky and proud to have done – not lucky, I’ll take it back – I’m very proud to have done.
“I had to overcome a lot of adversity on the way – illness to myself, to my loved ones, my mum, injury. I think it’s that ‘why’.
“I think the stronger the ‘why’ is, the more you have, so when you do get knocked down in life, you can hold on to that ‘why’. That’s your anchor – to keep getting up and keep pushing and keep persevering for the thing that you want most, be it an Olympic medal or successful business.”
READ MORE: Breaking barriers: British rower Helen Glover’s journey from Olympic gold to parenthood and back
Q: From your Olympic journey, what lessons did you learn about goal-setting and staying focused under pressure?
AO: “My sporting career taught me: the bigger goals you have, the more life is going to happen to you. And now, when I say that – when I say life – I mean the ups, the downs, the twists, the turns, the good bits, the bad bits. The bigger goals you have, the more all this stuff is going to happen.
“I mean, how do you measure life? You can measure life by duration – living 70, 80, 90 years – or you can measure life in those moments of being scared and doing it anyway: Olympic Games, sitting there, butterflies in my tummy.
“My mum was in a hospital trying to survive a brain aneurysm. My life was a mess, and that was a pivotal moment. Either don’t box in Olympic Games or I box in the Olympic Games; either go back home with my family or I focus on this one thing for me and my family.
“It’s those moments. It’s the scary moments. It’s the moments of being afraid and doing it anyway. And I’m very lucky – in a relatively short life, I’ve managed to amass so many of those moments.
“And that’s what life is. That’s what boxing, that’s what my sport taught me. The bigger goals you have, the more life will happen.
“And it’s about enjoying it when it is tough and it is hard – finding a beauty in the struggle. And hopefully, when you succeed, the destination is so much better because of all the things you went through.”
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Anita Asante on Arsenal’s quadruple, breaking barriers & building a more inclusive game
Q: You’ve been part of one of the most successful Olympic boxing teams in British history. What insights can you share about building a high-performance culture?
AO: “I’m very lucky to have been involved in a number of winning teams. And when I joined the Great Britain boxing team when I was a kid, England and Great Britain – we weren’t one of the big players in the world of amateur boxing.
“We weren’t. We were maybe a middle kind of country – we weren’t Cuba, we weren’t America, Ukraine, or Russia. And over the course of my tenure on the GB squad, we changed to become the number one team in the world, which we are now.
“When you go to Olympic Games and in the World Championships, you do not want to draw a British boxer because we are literally the best. I was part of that change. And the culture – it’s developing a winning mindset.
“We used to go there – we used to be afraid of boxing the Russians. Now, the Russians are afraid of boxing us. And that came back because we worked hard and we changed our culture.
“We got one or two people that had been there, that had done it, that operated on the highest levels and been successful. And that winning mentality kind of filters down to the rest of us.
“Then you win something. Then you win something else. Then, rather than going there and hoping for a good draw when the draw is done, you don’t care what the draw is because you know – you’re so confident in your own ability, you’re going to come away with a medal.
“So I think it’s bringing in the top people and top hasn’t got to be the CEO – top could be somebody coming in who’s very influential. And that winning mentality kind of spreads around the team. And that’s how you win. You win together. You win collectively.”
READ NEXT: Courage under pressure: Briana Scurry's story of leadership, loss & legacy as a former footballer
Q: As a motivational speaker, what key message do you hope audiences take away from your story?
AO: “I hope audiences take away that they can win. They can be successful, whatever winning is. Winning hasn’t got to be an Olympic medal, hasn’t got to be a £500,000-a-year contract.
“I was not supposed to be where I am. I’m not supposed to be here talking to you now. I’m not supposed to be on your stage giving my talk.
“I’m a kid – I’ve got four sisters, single-parent household. My dad was never in my life. When he was, he was very violent, he was very abusive. I became a boxer.
“Now, most boxers are boxers because their dad boxed, their grandad boxed, their uncle boxed. I had no men in my life, no male influence.
“So, me walking down this path is an anomaly, really. I come from a small town. It’s not a boxing town – it’s not London or Liverpool or Birmingham. It’s a small town in east of England, far away from anything, really.
“And yet I did it. I overcame setbacks, prejudice, everything – injury, as I mentioned. My mum was very ill, had a brain aneurysm just before the Olympic Games.
“I overcame so much to win. To win a medal for myself and my country and my family and my community and that small town that I came from.
“So you can do it too. You can do it. If you work hard enough and if you believe in yourself, you can be anything you want to be.
“That’s the main message that I think people can take away and learn from my story.”
This exclusive interview with Anthony Ogogo was conducted by Chris Tompkins of the Motivational Speakers Agency.
YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN: How Christian Horner’s sacking could reshape the F1 grid
