A local hero: Olympic medalist Lutalo Muhammad

Lutalo Muhammad at London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games Victory Parade. Image © Jim Thurston

Born and raised a few miles from London’s Olympic stadium, Lutalo Muhammad is a local hero with not one but two Olympic medals.

In a press interviews, Lutalo has talked about his journey to success.

It began at home in east London. His father Wayne Muhammad was a gym owner and a fan of martial arts legend Bruce Lee and taught Lutalo and his brothers the sport. Lutalo practiced it for fun with no real intention of pursuing it professionally.

The dream to take the sport to the grand stage was ignited during the Sydney 2000 Olympics Tae Kwon Do final. While the family watched the games, Wayne told Lutalo that he too could pursue sport and win medals like the athletes they watched on TV. Young Lutalo decided there and then that this was the path he would walk  – almost as if he was aware of what destiny had in store for him – and he became a successful athlete.

However, all was not plain sailing. Representing Great Britain in the 80Kg category at the 2012 Olympics, Lutalo Muhammad’s participation was met by criticism and prejudice, even leading to hate mail. However he brushed aside all of his critics and powered through to a bronze medal. 

During the Rio 2016 Olympics, Lutalo fought once more but fell short of a fairy tale ending when he lost the final in the last second. He still collected a very impressive silver medal.

Apart from the Olympics Lutalo has achieved great success in many other international Tae Kwon Do tournaments.

Lutalo is a role model to all young Muslims to chase their dreams, be it sports or any other path.

His example shows that hard work never fails and that it is a trait that we should all aim to have.

Lutalo Mohammed won Bronze at the Excel Arena in the London 2012 Olympics against Arman Yeremyan (Armenia). Image © Flickr.com