Lawrence Okoye

Lawrence Okoye

Lawrence Okoye in 2012
No. 98     San Francisco 49ers
Defensive End
Personal information
Date of birth: (1991-10-06) October 6, 1991
Place of birth: Croydon, England
Height: 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Weight: 304 lb (138 kg)
Career information
High school: London (UK) Whitgift
Undrafted in 2013
No regular season or postseason appearances
Career history
San Francisco 49ers (2013–present)
Roster status: Injured Reserve
Career NFL statistics as of 2013
Stats at NFL.com

Lawrence Okoye

Personal information
Nationality	British
Born	(1991-10-06) 6 October 1991
Height	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight	138 kg (304 lb)
Sport
Sport	Track and field
Event(s)	Discus throw
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	68.24 m
Medal record Men's athletics Competitor for  Great Britain European U23 Championships Gold 2011 Ostrava Discus throw

Lawrence Okoye (born 6 October 1991) is a British track and field athlete and an American football player for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. He is the British record holder in the discus event and had a promising career in junior rugby union.^[1]

Education

Born in Croydon in south London to Nigerian parents of the Igbo ethnic group,^[2] Okoye was educated at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Junior School, a Voluntary Aided Roman Catholic state primary school in Croydon, followed by Whitgift School, an independent school for boys (also in Croydon), in South London. Lawrence is also a keen academic, with an outstanding offer from Oxford University Law school which he is keen to take up in the future. He played rugby union as a winger^[3] for Whitgift School playing in the Daily Mail Schools Rugby Under 18 final at Twickenham in 2010, he was also a member of the academy teams of both London Irish and London Wasps.^[4]

Discus

Okoye began training full-time in the discus in September 2010 after a promising career as a junior rugby union player.^[5] In his first international outing he came sixth in the discus throw at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics. He won a gold medal at the 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships in July 2011 at the age of 19.

Later on that season, Okoye threw a new British record of 67.63m at the McCain Jumps & Throws Fest. He then bettered that mark with another British record of 68.24 m at the Hallesche Werfertage meeting in May 2012.^[6]

In the 2012 Summer Olympics, Okoye competed in the discus, reaching the final with a throw of 65.28m. In the final he finished in twelfth place with a throw of 61.03m. After the competition he expressed disappointment with his placing in the final.^[7]

NFL career

2013 NFL Combine

2013 NFL Draft

In March 2013, Okoye announced his intentions to play in the National Football League, despite having never played American football in high school or college; he stated that five NFL teams expressed interest in him, and planned to sign after the 2013 NFL Draft.^[9] At the NFL Super Regional Combine, Okoye ran the 40-yard dash in 4.78 seconds, while scoring 36 inches on the vertical jump and 10 feet, 7 inches on the broad jumps.^[10] Okoye was signed on April 27 by the San Francisco 49ers.^[11] On August 27, Okoye was placed on Injured Reserve after sustaining an injury in the preseason.

References

^[12]

External links

• Official website
• Lawrence Okoye profile at IAAF