Jaya Kalsi: From Local Gym to the Youth Olympic Games
On the eve of her 17th birthday, the call every young fighter rehearses in their head finally came for Jaya Kalsi.
The teenager from Warwick was told she will represent Team GB at the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal – a gift she described as an “amazing present to get”. For a boxer who has grown up chasing big stages from a small gym in Leamington Spa, this is the one that changes the scale of everything.
The Games begin on 31 October. Between now and then, there is no room for sentiment.
From local gym to global stage
Kalsi has been sharpening her tools with Team GB in recent weeks, living the routine every amateur dreams of but few reach: long sessions in the gym, fine-tuning, repeating the same combinations until they feel like instinct. She says preparations have gone “really well”. The tone is calm, but the stakes are clear.
Ranked third in the world at her level and already a European gold medallist, the Sikh fighter will step into the 54kg division in Dakar. The opposition remains a mystery for now. The tournament draw will be made once the team arrives in Senegal.
“The draw will happen when we’re out there,” she said. “It will be an amazing experience.”
That experience will be the highest level she has faced so far. It is also a checkpoint on a much longer road.
A teenager with a 10-year plan
Kalsi is not treating Dakar as a one-off adventure. She talks in Olympic cycles, not single tournaments.
She wants a Youth Olympic gold medal. She wants it badly enough to say so, clearly.
“I aim to make it to the top, I’m looking to hopefully get a place on the 2028 Olympic squad and hopefully the 2032 Olympics and then go pro after that,” she explained.
Most teenagers talk about next week. Kalsi is mapping out Los Angeles 2028, Brisbane 2032 and a professional career beyond. Dakar is a launchpad, not a destination.
Built in Cleary Boxing Gym
Her journey started early. Seven years old, already sporty, already restless. She had tried swimming. She had tried karate. Then her father, a devoted boxing fan, opened a different door.
“I loved doing sports before that, I did swimming and karate but my dad, he was a massive fan of boxing so he got me into the sport,” she said.
He idolised Ricky Hatton and Floyd Mayweather. He took his daughter to Cleary Boxing Gym in Leamington Spa. The place has been her boxing home ever since.
“He looked up to Ricky Hatton and Floyd Mayweather, and he basically took me to the gym,” she recalled.
From those first sessions on the bags to European gold and a world ranking, the arc has been steep. Dakar is the next steep climb.
Inspired by champions, chasing her own legacy
Kalsi’s style and ambition have been shaped by more than just family influence. She points to Irish star Katie Taylor, who recently closed her career as a three-time and two-weight undisputed champion, as a “massive inspiration”, especially for what she has done for women’s boxing.
Taylor showed that women could headline, could carry cards, could own arenas. For a young Sikh fighter from Warwick, that matters.
Kalsi also studies Mayweather, drawn to the relentlessness behind the persona.
His “hard work and dedication” stand out to her. “I look to achieve something like him in the future,” she said.
The names she mentions are not casual references. They are a template: elite standards, sustained dominance, total commitment.
Dakar and beyond
In Senegal, Kalsi will not be alone. Her mother will travel with her, another constant presence in a career still in its early chapters but already packed with milestones. Between them, they have carried the sacrifices, the early mornings, the late nights, the long drives to gyms and tournaments.
Now comes the Youth Olympic Games, with the red, white and blue of Team GB on her vest and a clear objective in her mind.
“I’m looking to bring back the Youth Olympic gold medal and get a step up,” she said.
For some, Dakar is a stage to enjoy. For Jaya Kalsi, it is a test to pass on the way to the senior Olympics – and, if her plan holds, to a professional ring where the names she once watched become the standards she intends to match.
