The amateur boxer on Paris 2024, his friendship with Anthony Joshua and how, in another life, he may have been on the Russia-Ukraine war frontlines
“It’s horrific, it really is,” Delicious Orie says, turning his attention briefly away from his hopes of winning an Olympic gold medal in Paris, the British super-heavyweight born in Moscow to a Russian mother and a Nigerian father considers the war in Ukraine. Orie spent the first seven years of his life in Russia before the racism his dad endured became unbearable and his family immigrated to England. Rather than thinking of all he needs to do to emulate his hero, Anthony Joshua, and become an Olympic champion, Orie now considers how he might have ended up as a Russian soldier during the invasion of Ukraine.
“If Mum and Dad didn’t decide to go, and migrate, I could have been forced out there,” Orie continues. “I’m in my 20s, I’m healthy, and it’s a really scary thought. I’m just very fortunate not to be involved in that horrific event.”