Pandemic provides second chance for young athlete to compete at Tokyo 2021

For many people, the pandemic and resulting wave of isolation and uncertainty have taken a toll. Like many, seven times British triple jump champion Naomi Ogbeta didn't know where her next source of income would come from.

"I had my savings but I spent the last bit on making my final car payment. And I was like, if nothing comes through, I don't know what I'm going to do next. Like, I actually don't know what I would do,” she nervously shares.

The last few months have taken Ogbeta through emotional highs and lows. The initial worry of being furloughed was replaced with her desire and distraction of starting up her creative platform - Three Points Start. The digital sport media platform gives athletes the opportunity to interview one another on sport, music and lifestyle. However, the content hadn't gone unnoticed and in October, she landed an athlete sponsorship with Adidas.

'if she can do that, and she's from where I'm from, then, what can I do?'

Though Ogbeta may not be a household name, the 22-year-old is one of Britain's most successful junior athletes. She became Britain’s first European U20 medallist in women’s triple jump and went on to win seven indoor championships.

Despite her success on the track, like many junior athletes, Ogbeta worked an additional job to make ends meet and to fund her rise to the top of athletics. For her, the role as an educational assistant with Football Beyond Borders - an education charity - was to become an integral part to build her ambitions as an athlete.

"I've always cared about working with young people. As an athlete, I'm already sort of inspiring the next generation but I wanted to take it a little bit further," she says.

"I used to do school visits as an athlete. I'd give advice to the young people who would then ask 'when are you next in?' but it was always a one-off visit. I really wanted to see if I can have a bit more of a lasting impact,” she continues.

FBB embodies the same passion and enthusiasm for sport that Ogbeta had so far carried through life. The charity uses football to support disengaged young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in schools and communities. The decision to join them was a straightforward one for the Olympic hopeful.

"The young people could relate to me more - like they'd say 'if she can do that, and she's from where I'm from, then, what can I do?' So for me to be from the same area and have achieved different things in sport is important.

“And so that's kind of why I wanted to do it,” shares Ogbeta.

At a cross-road.

Despite her new-found passion for the classroom, the rise of the global pandemic and the subsequent first government lockdown in March 2020 meant the sporting world had come to an eerie standstill; putting Ogbete at a crossroad.

Was she to continue her newly established role in youth work or take this unexpected second chance in her stride?

"The fact the Olympics is postponed, it's like a take two - I've gotten another chance to go for it," she laughs.

"So I just thought, you know what, I'm going to take a risk. I don't have any other job. I'm not sponsored, but I'm just going to stop working with FBB and just see what happens."

Though unwittingly, the young people she worked with at FBB had added fuel to the near burn-out flame.

Ogbete recalls moments of doubts, feeling low in her mental health and nearly quitting the sport she had been part of since the age of 13. However, working with a grassroots organisation had demonstrated to her the need for representation and role models that young people can relate to. She wasn't going to let fear stop her.