“Being an Olympic has been my dream since I was a child” – World Boxing Association

In continuity with ONLY ONE BOXING, the World Boxing Association has established contact with a Venezuelan amateur boxing figure, who beyond statistics, has managed to reach the hearts of many people in the world with his actions and words. 

“Before to my participation in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the WBA contacted me to give me their support and that meant a lot to me,” said Eldric Sella in a recent press conference to learn about his present and projects. 

On September 13, 2018, Sella left the 23 de enero neighborhood, in Venezuela where he grew up with his family, in search of a dream motivated by that boxing icon, Alfronso Blanco, an emblematic representative of Venezuelan boxing: “He inspired me a lot to follow that Olympic path, because he was from my neighborhood and he made it”, Sella said. 

The socio-political situation of his country was a major constraint for Sella to achieve his dream of flying his flag in the highest competitions; the event that gathers the whole world every four years in search not only of competition among outstanding athletes, but also of sharing the effort, dedication, companionship, equality, passion and trust even among complete strangers, as pillars of life in communion. Sella then applied for asylum with UNHCR/UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency in Trinidad and Tobago, to whom he is deeply grateful. It was from there that Sella went on to be part of the refugee Olympic team and being in Tokyo changed his life forever. 

“Being an Olympic has been a dream of mine since I was a kid. At first it was tied to being able to represent my country and because of the influence of the people around me in the gym by then. Then it became more and more my desire to be able to do something that had meaning for someone else. When you have an achievement that is only for your own benefit it is only for your ego, but when you make an impact on others, it is immense. My participation in Tokyo has generated an impact that I did not expect: people have written to me from different parts of the world telling me that I have motivated them to start boxing. That’s why I don’t think that the team I’m in represents only refugees beyond being directly linked to it”, Eldric Sella speaks with a smile and a heartfelt pause for the present in which he finds himself, while continuing to dream big, because Sella hopes that the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will find him on the podium within the 80kg. 

His adopted country today is Uruguay. There he prepares among assorted punching bags with his father Eduard Sella as coach. He was in sparring concentrations with the Uruguayan national team, also in Argentina and from each session he kept an extra experience to improve his path that he assures that after Paris 2024, he will be able to develop in professional boxing. 

“I am still discovering what it means for me to be an Olympian, because I have not had a conventional path like other athletes. And, at the end of the day, it’s the values that one stands for and carries with him. I don’t want to say I’m an Olympian just because I participated, I want to be able to give it a deeper meaning” … Eldric has more than 60 fights under his belt and with his desire to reach Tokyo intact, he also hopes to symbolize the union and the evidence that it is possible to achieve what one dreams of.