Naomi Melissa Graham is an American middleweight boxer. She is a staff sergeant and ammunition specialist in the United States Army. Graham is the first female active duty service member to fight for the U.S. at the Olympics.[1]
 Naomi Graham at the 2020 Olympics | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| National team | USA Boxing | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | May 15, 1989 Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Pine Forest High School (NC) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Boxing | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight class | Middleweight | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | U.S. Army WCAP | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Military career | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Allegiance |  United States | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Service |  United States Army | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Years of service | 2013–present | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank |  Sergeant first class | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Life
editGraham was brought up in Fayetteville, North Carolina where she was the youngest of six children. A sister, Rachel, who was six years older than her took up professional boxing, but Naomi did not, as her mother objected.[1] When she was 21, she was made homeless by her mother.[2] In 2012, she was inspired by seeing women like Nicola Adams competing in the 2012 Summer Olympics. She joined the army in 2013 and two years later she joined the Army's World Class Athlete Program.
In 2019, Graham won silver at the Pan American Games, which was later upgraded to gold due to her opponent's in the final disqualification for doping.[3] Naomi became the first female active duty service member to compete for the U.S. at the Olympics. She was in Tokyo for the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics in 2021.[1][4]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Army boxer Naomi Graham fights her way to Olympics". Fox News. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
- ^ WRAL (July 27, 2021). "Fayetteville's Naomi Graham went from being homeless to boxing for Team USA in Olympics". WRALSportsFan.com. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
- ^ "Dopaje: Colombia pierde dos oros y gana uno en Panamericanos de Lima". El Tiempo. December 26, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
- ^ "GRAHAM Naomi Melissa". Olympics. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
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