Kyle Kothari, a 26-year-old diver from Team GB, is incredibly proud of his journey to his debut at the Olympics in Paris. Despite having won medals in lesser-known events, he faced the possibility of career-ending surgeries for a ruptured left Achilles in 2019 and a similar injury in the same leg in 2021. This disruption happened just six months before Tokyo’s last games, where he was certain he would not be able to participate. Kothari started exploring life outside sports, working as an analyst for seven months at JP Morgan, but realized that he couldn’t leave sports just yet.
Growing up, Kothari initially was interested in gymnastics, but he was attracted to diving during weekly sessions more and eventually chose diving as his future. Kothari recognizes the rarity of being a British Asian in sports, describing aquatic sports like diving and swimming as lacking diversity. According to data compiled by Sport England, around 95% of black adults and 93% of Asian adults in the UK do not swim, with South Asians among the groups least likely to be active.
Kothari takes his role and responsibility as someone with South Asian heritage in sports very seriously, he mentions how he had his epiphany at the World Championships in Doha earlier this year. While speaking with the Indian diving team, they were surprised that someone with South Asian heritage had become so successful at diving, but this made him realize that it is important to see someone that looks like you doing something because that makes you believe that it is feasible.
Kyle recognizes that being able to follow his sporting dreams requires a great deal of sacrifice, not just financially but also from one’s family and support network. His family’s support was instrumental in helping him attain great things, and he acknowledges that his father would have sold the house so he could make the Olympics. Although now Kothari is grateful for National Lottery funding, he hopes that sports in general will become more highly paid and attractive as a realistic career path for people from diverse backgrounds.
Kothari has developed a deep relationship with other divers on GB’s teams, including Tom Daley, the most recent winner of a medal in this event. They are close friends who help and advise one another. The goal is to try to win a medal, but if it doesn’t happen, Kothari is pretty laid back and won’t be too upset. For Kothari, the journey to get here was just the start, and he remains proud of his accomplishments
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