Fayetteville's Naomi Graham went from being homeless to boxing for Team USA in Olympics
Posted July 27, 2021 5:34 p.m. EDT
Updated July 27, 2021 7:30 p.m. EDT
Fayetteville, N.C. — Naomi Graham, from Fayetteville, has dreamed of boxing her entire life.
"I wanted to box since I was nine and followed my sister to the gym," she said.
But, her mother told her she was too young to box, so she promised herself she would do it when she was older.
Graham, now 32, is making history, representing Team USA at the Olympics this year. She'll be competing as a boxer in the women's middleweight (75kg) division while also being an active-duty military member.
She's the first woman to ever take on such a challenge.
"My goal this year at the Olympics is of course to win gold, but to represent my country and U.S. Army in such a way of dignity and respect that people hear my story and are inspired to accomplish their own dreams," she said.
Graham is a relative newbie to the sport and started boxing a decade ago. But before joining the military, Graham's life looked much different.
Her mother kicked Graham out of the house at 21, and for a brief period, she was homeless.
"I found a home that was abandoned and that's mostly where I stayed," she told Bleacher Report in 2019.
While homeless, she had time to think about what she wanted to do in life and who she wanted to be. That experience gave her drive, heart and will she said.
A couple of years later, she turned her life around and joined the military to become an ammunition specialist.
"It was not easy, but resiliency and determination runs in my blood. No quit in me," she wrote on Instagram.
In 2015 the Associated Press reports,, she joined the Army's World Class Athlete Program, which provides resources to keep soldiers' competitive skills sharp while handling their military obligations.
She's slowly risen to prominence in the boxing community, placing in three world championships.
Graham said she wants to show others that, no matter where they come from, they can achieve their goals.
"You can be anything you want to be," she said. "You can come from nothing and be an Olympian."
Watch Graham compete on Wednesday at 4:30 a.m. eastern standard time on NBC.
