Caroline Dubois, brilliant boxing sister of Britain’s future world heavyweight champion Daniel, is the BBC’s Young Sports Personality of the Year.
Caroline, 18, is the World and Olympic Youth lightweight champion, has just won her fourth European gold medal and is viewed as potentially the best female boxer yet.
To make her start in her big brother’s footsteps, Dubois had to pretend to be a boy called Colin so as to be allowed to train at her local London sports club.
Caroline Dubois has been named BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year for 2019
The 18-year-old boxer (right) had to pretend to be a boy named Colin in order to be allowed to join her local sports club in London, paving the way for her to develop into a talented fighter
Caroline, the World and Olympic Youth lightweight champion, has just won her fourth European gold medal and is viewed as potentially the best female boxer yet. Pictured with her trophy
She has won all her 40 amateur bouts and is in line for place in Team GB at next summer’s Tokyo Olympics.
The trophy was presented to the young boxer on Sunday evening at the BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards by presenters Greg James, Maya Jama and Mollie King in front of a live studio audience.
Dubois now has her sights on being part of the Great Britain squad for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
She has won all her 40 amateur bouts and is in line for place in Team GB at next summer’s Tokyo Olympics
Caroline (right) is the younger sister of British boxing heavyweight Daniel (pictured left)
Dubois beat out competition from 11-year-old skateboarder Sky Brown to win the 2019 award
She follows in the footsteps of previous winners of the award in sporting superstars like Ellie Simmonds, Wayne Rooney, Andy Murray and Tom Daley, as well as 2018 winner Kare Adenegan.
Unbeaten records run in the family with her brother’s professional record standing at 13 wins and zero defeats after he beat Ebenezer Tetteh by knockout back in September.
The three finalists were named on Friday with Dubois beating 11-year-old skateboarder Sky Brown and Para-swimmer Maisie Summers-Newton to the 2019 award.
P&J Live in Aberdeen will host this year’s ceremony on December 15 and will be hosted by Gabby Logan and Gary Lineker where Dubois will be presented with her award.
‘Dad was hesitant – he didn’t think girls should be boxers’: How Caroline Dubois hatched plan with her father to pretend to be a boy so she could train at the local gym
By Jemma Carr for MailOnline
At the age of just 18, Caroline Dubois has already been described as potentially the best female boxer of all time.
But she started out, at the age of nine, by pretending to be a boy called Colin so she could train at her local sports club.
Dubois was inspired by her older brother, British heavyweight Daniel Dubois, and convinced her market trader father to be her trainer.
At the age of just 18, Caroline Dubois has already been described as potentially the best female boxer of all time
She told The Independent: ‘Dad was a bit hesitant because he didn’t think girls should be boxers, but when he took me [to the gym] he realised how good I was.’
But Daniel’s club, Repton Boxing Club in London, didn’t accept girls, so she and her father hatched a plan.
She said in an interview with Seconds Out: ‘Back in the day, boxing and female boxing wasn’t that accepted and the club that my brother was at was Repton and they didn’t accept girls, they didn’t want girls.’
But Dubois (right) started out, at the age of nine, by pretending to be a boy called Colin so she could train at her local sports club
So her dad came up with the idea to pose as a boy.
She added: ‘At first, I thought he was joking as well. I didn’t realise it was real until I actually got into the club. And we got there there were no girls, it was so serious.’
Dubois pretended to be Colin for around three to six months before the club, still none the wiser, arranged a boxing match against a boy.
Unwilling to fight someone of the opposite gender, it was at this point that Dubois decided to leave the club.
Almost ten years on, she has become a world and Olympic Youth Champion at lightweight and has won 40 matches in a row and has four gold medals.
Dubois was inspired by her older brother, British heavyweight Daniel Dubois (left), and convinced her market trader father to be her trainer