Lawrence Okoye (born 6 October 1991) is a British track and field athlete and former American football defensive tackle. He is the British record holder in the discus event. Okoye became the first ever British athlete to win a medal in Discus at a European Championships during Munich 2022. He has also played rugby union. Personal life Born in Croydon in South London to Nigerian parents, Okoye was educated at St Mary's Roman Catholic Junior School, a voluntary aided Roman Catholic state primary school in Croydon, followed by Whitgift School, an independent school for boys, also in Croydon. Okoye is an honorary member of the St Peter's College JCR, and has an offer from the University of Oxford to study law which he is keen to take up in the future. He played rugby union as a winger for Whitgift School playing in the Daily Mail Schools Rugby Under 18 final at Twickenham in 2010, and was also a member of the academy teams of both London Irish and London Wasps. Lawrence married Philippa Okoye in August 2014, however, the pair separated in 2017. Okoye was arrested on 6 February 2019 as part of a reverse prostitution sting in Shelby County, Alabama, four days before the kickoff of the Birmingham Iron's inaugural season. The charges were later dropped. Discus Okoye began training full-time in the discus in September 2010 after a promising career as a junior rugby union player. In his first international outing he came sixth in the discus throw at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics. He won a gold medal at the 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships in July 2011 at the age of 19. Later on that season, Okoye threw a new British record of 67.63m at the McCain Jumps & Throws Fest. He then bettered that mark with another British record of 68.24m at the Hallesche Werfertage meeting in May 2012. In the 2012 Summer Olympics, Okoye competed in the discus, reaching the final with a throw of 65.28m. In the final, he finished in twelfth place with a throw of 61.03m. After the competition, he expressed disappointment with his placing in the final. After leaving American football, Okoye competed in the 2019 Anniversary Games. This was his first competition since 2012. His best result of 2019 was 60.80 m at the Olympic Stadium on 21 July 2019. In 2020, his season best was