On the day before his 17th birthday, Jaya Kalsi received a phone call with the kind of news that every young boxer dreams of.
The athlete, from Warwick, has been selected to represent Team GB at the 2026 Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal, in what he described as an “amazing task”.
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With the emergency games on October 31, Kalsi is preparing to take off for what will be the highest level competition of his career.
“I’m looking forward to it, it’s a great honor to represent Team GB and my country,” he said.
Speaking to BBC CWR, Kalsi said he had been training with Team GB in the gym for the past few weeks and had gone “really well” in his training.
The Sikh fighter, who is ranked third in the world at his level and is a European gold medallist, will compete in the 54kg weight category and will test what he is up against next month.
“What’s going to happen will happen when we’re there,” he said. “It will be an amazing experience.”
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Kalsi hopes the strong performance can be another step towards her long-term goal of competing in the 2028 and 2032 Olympic Games, before finally turning professional.
He said he was looking for a gold medal to bring home.
“I am striving to the top, I hope to get a place in the 2028 Olympic squad for 2028 and hopefully the 2032 Olympics and then for later,” he explained.
The boxer, who trained at Cleary Boxing Gym in Leamington Spa at a young age, explained how he took up the sport from the age of seven after being brought up by his father.
“I loved doing sport before, I did swimming and karate but my father, he was a huge fan of boxing so I got into the sport,” he said.
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“He looked up to Ricky Hatton and Floyd Mayweather, and he basically took me to the gym.”
Irish boxer Katie Taylor, who recently ended her career as a three-time and two-weight champion, was a “big inspiration” to her, Kalsi said, highlighting her impact on women’s boxing.
She also added that she was inspired by former world champion Mayweather, with “hard work and dedication”.
“I look forward to achieving something similar in the future,” he said.
She will also be joined in Senegal by her athlete mother, who she said raised her up until now.
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“I’m trying to bring back the youth Olympic gold medal and step up,” said the boxer.
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