Felix Odhiambo Okoko’s moving story exemplifies how sports can positively transform the life of an individual.
Early in life, Okoko nearly quit primary school to become a street boy. He would skip school and roam the length and breadth of the sprawling Kware slums in Ongata Rongai, Kajiado County together with other boys scavenging for scrap metal, worn out tyres, old plastic cans, and broken timber to sell so as to supplement the family income.
His father William Oucha and his mother Susan Auma who worked as casual labourers in the neighbourhood, would unrelentingly whip him back to shape, determined to keep him in the straight and narrow. He was teetering on the edge of crime. Determined to keep him away from social misdemeanour, his parents changed schools for him thrice.
Now 23, Okoko is forever thankful to judo, a martial arts and Olympic combat sport which originated in Japan. In his own words, his parents instilled in him virtues of self-discipline and hard work, but it is judo that kept him away from criminal activities.
The fourth born in a family of eight siblings - five boys and three girls - says that judo opened doors for him.
As a secondary school student, he represented Kenya in a junior championship in 2015, and used money from his allowances to pay part of his school fee.
He also paid his own college fee, and later to relocate his family to a better house in Rongai, away from the densely populated Kware slums. He also yearned to excel in the sport and earn enough money to build his parents a better house in Bondo, Siaya County, and to better his own life. He took up judo in 2022, and has so far represented Kenya in a number of international competitions both in the junior and senior categories.
Felix Odhiambo Okoko (left) floors an opponent during a past judo fight.
He is now dreaming of winning gold medal for Team Kenya at the ongoing 2026 Commonwealth Games that started in Glasgow, Scotland, on Thursday and will run till August 3. He will compete in men’s under-66 kg category and hopes to win Kenya’s first judo medal in the quadrennial multi-sport championships christened “Club” Games.
Okoko, who was employed as a Constable at Kenya Prisons Service in 2025, is among four Kenyan judokas at the championship. The others are his role model Regan Mwandi, Zeddy Cherotich and Mary Njeri.
“It still sounds like a dream for me. I can recall the hardship that my family has gone through over the years in the slums. Everything in life has been difficult,” he says.
Okoko, who attended different primary schools both in Nairobi, and in Ongata Rongai, was introduced to judo by his elder brother Patrick Oucha while still in primary school back in 2015 at the age of seven. Oucha, 27, is now coaching and mentoring the next generation of judokas in Kisumu.
As a primary school pupil, Okoko would accompany his brother Oucha to training sessions at Kajiado North Judo Club. Coach Lawrence Nyundo Karisa who was based at the club introduced him to judo proper.
“I used to play football but I thought judo would help me fight off bullies. Without knowing it, I got glued to the sport. I particularly liked the sense of self-discipline associated with the sport,” Okoko says, adding that he would go hungry for days.
“Life was difficult, and I used to sell used timber, old tyres, fruits and anything I could lay my hands on. I remember there was a time we survived on food donation from church and some people labelled us chokoras (street boys),” Okoko remembers.
But despite the hardship, Okoko did not pick up bad behaviour.
Kenya's Felix Odhiambo Okoko in action at the 2024 African Games.
“My parents were strict, and that, combined with judo, shaped me into who I am today,” Okoko, who first competed for Kenya in 2015, said. Initially, his small body physique stood in the way of his success in judo.
“Initially, I found it hard to compete since I had a small body. Many times, I failed to attain the required weight in the category.”
Okoko finished his primary school studies at Nakel Primary School in Ongata Rongai in 2018, and joined Ole Kasasi Secondary School where he graduated in 2024. He first represented Kenya in 2022 at the Africa Junior Judo Championships held in Nairobi and finished fifth in his category.
He represented Kenya in Africa Junior Cup in Tunisia in March 2023, finishing fourth in his category. He won bronze medal at the 2023 Africa Junior and Cadet Championships held in Madagascar in July 2023.
“It’s my performance at my home championship that really shocked me. I wasn’t sure of what to do but finishing fourth was quite a performance from me, having beaten three other contestants,” said Okoko. “I really wanted to win in Madagascar but technique failed me.”
He graduated to the senior level, and competed at the 2024 African Games (formerly All Africa Games) in Accra, Ghana and reached the play-off for bronze. He wound up fifth.
Due to his stellar performance, he was picked as Zeddy Cherotich’s sparring partner ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. He was employed at Kenya Prisons Service a year later.
“I went with her to (pre-Olympics camp in) Miramas (in Southern France) and it really opened my eyes,” Okoko, who paid his college fees using the cash allowances he earned from 2024 African Games, and from sparring with Cherotich, says.
Okoko also used his earnings to enrol himself in a plumbing course. He is currently building his parents a four-bedroom house in Bondo.
“My ultimate dream is to not only win a medal in Glasgow but to also qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games and make history by winning a medal for Kenya,” said Okoko. His siblings Bravin Onyango, 13, and Logah Anderson, 10, have now taken up judo.
Kenya is yet to win a medal in judo at the Commonwealth Games, nor at the Olympic Games.
