Team GB boxer emotionally torn apart and battling depression after Olympics 2024 robbery
DELICIOUS ORIE has been emotionally torn apart and is still battling the depression that engulfed him after he was robbed by Olympic boxing judges.
Orie hasn’t yet recovered from that intense sense of injustice he felt in Paris last month.
DJ, as he likes to be called, won Commonwealth Games and European Championship golds.
And Great Britain’s super-heavyweight was a favourite to become Olympic champion.
The smell from sewage in the Seine may have been unpleasant but there was a far greater stench in the boxing arena.
The XY chromosomes controversy over Algerian Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting — allowed to compete in the women’s event despite previously failing gender tests — and some disturbing judges’ scorecards saw to that.
Orie wasn’t at his best fighting Davit Chaloyan yet was given the first round by all five judges.
The second and third rounds were much closer but DJ and his team were dumbfounded as he was ruled a 3-2 loser.
Orie was distraught and is struggling to come to terms with that dodgy defeat to the Armenian.
When I tracked Orie down this week, on holiday with his parents in Thailand, he was pleased to unburden himself.
Though he was 5,000 miles away, I could feel his pain when he said: “It’s going to be a very long time before I get what happened to me in Paris out of my system.
“I just can’t stop thinking about it.
“Knowing my Olympic boxing history, I know it has happened to much better fighters than me — Roy Jones Jr in Seoul and Floyd Mayweather Jr in Atlanta being the most famous victims.
“But I couldn’t believe it when my opponent’s hand was raised — I felt sick to my stomach as if I’d been hit by a low blow from Mike Tyson.
“It took eight hard years preparing to win gold, then all my dreams were just shattered.
“I’ve never suffered depression in my life before — I just can’t get it out of my mind and my whole world seemed to have collapsed.
“I’ve taken a lot of punches, been dropped in sparring, been really wounded as an athlete.
I couldn’t believe it when my opponent’s hand was raised — I felt sick to my stomach as if I’d been hit by a low blow from Mike Tyson.
Delicious Orie
“But this is by far the worst thing I’ve had to go through — nothing has hurt me as much as this.”
Orie is 27 and won’t want to stay amateur for another four years to try to make it to the Los Angeles Games.
Not least because it’s uncertain if boxing will be included for 2028.
He could turn pro — or quit boxing altogether and rely on his first-class honours degree in economics from Aston University to earn a living.
Having failed to get an Olympic medal, DJ can’t expect to be offered a lucrative promotional deal to start punching for pay.
He’s certainly not too old to leave the amateurs — 2016 Olympic silver medallist Joe Joyce didn’t turn pro until he was 32 and was interim WBO world heavyweight champ.
Orie is not a big puncher but with his brains and colourful background — his mother is Russian and his father Nigerian — he would be a welcome addition to Britain’s talented and highly competitive heavyweight scene.
You're Not Alone
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide
It doesn’t discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It’s the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it’s rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
That is why The Sun launched the You’re Not Alone campaign.
The aim is that by sharing practical advice, raising awareness and breaking down the barriers people face when talking about their mental health, we can all do our bit to help save lives.
Let’s all vow to ask for help when we need it, and listen out for others… You’re Not Alone.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
- CALM, www.thecalmzone.net, 0800 585 858
- Heads Together,www.headstogether.org.uk
- HUMEN www.wearehumen.org
- Mind, www.mind.org.uk, 0300 123 3393
- Papyrus, www.papyrus-uk.org, 0800 068 41 41
- Samaritans,www.samaritans.org, 116 123