#202 How to Defy the Odds and Become Your Own Champion with Olympic Boxer Ramla Ali
Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee
Dr Rangan Chatterjee
4.8 • 10.9K Ratings
🗓️ 21 September 2021
⏱️ 112 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Caution: Contains themes of an adult nature.
The term ‘inspirational’ can be overused when it comes to describing public figures. But in the case of today’s guest, it couldn’t be more fitting. Ramla Ali is a professional sportswoman who became the first-ever boxer to compete for Somalia in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Her incredible story is told in her new book Not Without A Fight: Ten Steps To Becoming Your Own Champion, and I’m honoured to hear it from her first hand.
Ramla is a former refugee whose family fled from Somalia to Kenya after the civil war. After settling in the UK, she describes a pivotal moment in her teenage years when she was attacked by a group of boys for wearing a hijab. This, together with advice from her GP that she was obese, proved an incentive for Ramla to begin boxing. But it was a secret she kept hidden from her traditional, religious family.
We talk about the range of feelings these events gave rise to, sharing our thoughts on the immigrant experience, and on being the subject of parental disapproval as well as pride. And we discuss Ramla’s journey to the Olympics and how much the African experience differs to that of Western athletes. Until she found sponsorship, modelling helped to pay Ramla’s way in sport. Yet she talks with touching honesty about struggles with confidence, self-esteem and finding her identity as a Somali woman in the public eye.
Today, Ramla’s confidence comes from the knowledge she has achieved all this against the odds – and that her fight helps women and girls of all backgrounds, races and religions to be seen. She’s giving back not just through this platform and as a Unicef Ambassador, but through her Sisters Club, a free boxing club that provides a safe space for women in London to access the sport. Ramla is a true role model and living proof that we can all be our own champions. I really think you are going to enjoy listening.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | If you put your mind to something, you will stop at nothing to achieve it. |
| 0:05.0 | Be brave enough to take risks, be brave enough to put yourself in uncomfortable situations |
| 0:12.0 | and you end up being happier. |
| 0:14.0 | Hi, my name is Rongan Chasji. |
| 0:18.0 | Welcome to Feel Better Live More. |
| 0:22.0 | Hello, how are you doing? |
| 0:28.0 | It feels really good to be back in the swing of weekly episodes. |
| 0:32.0 | Feedback to last week's episode with Andrew Wile has been absolutely incredible. |
| 0:37.0 | Thank you to everyone of you who listened and shared it with your friends. |
| 0:41.0 | Now, before we get on to this week's show, just a quick reminder about the new membership version of Feel Better Live More |
| 0:48.0 | that I told you about last week. Basically, if you are a big fan of my show and you want to help support it |
| 0:56.0 | for just £7 per month, which is about $10 per month for those in America, |
| 1:02.0 | you can listen to every single episode completely advert free |
| 1:07.0 | and you also get access to a once per month exclusive, ask me anything episodes |
| 1:13.0 | where I answer your very own questions. |
| 1:15.0 | Now, at the moment, there's a special founding members offer where you can sign up for just five |
| 1:20.0 | pounds per month for the lifetime of your subscription if you sign up before the end of October 2021. |
| 1:27.0 | So many of you have signed up in the past week. |
| 1:29.0 | I cannot wait to see what your questions to me are. |
| 1:32.0 | If this interests you and you would like more information, just click on the link in the episode description |
| 1:38.0 | on your podcast app or go to dot to chasji.com forward slash membership. |
| 1:44.0 | Remember, this is completely optional. |
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