London 2012 Olympics: Place at Oxford University must wait as discus athlete Lawrence Okoye makes Games debut

Lawrence Okoye put a place reading law at St Peter’s College Oxford on hold so he could compete in the Games.

Okoye, 20, a former pupil at Whitgift School in Croydon, was today making his Olympic debut in the men’s qualifying round of the discus.

At school he excelled at rugby. With his 6ft 6in, 20 stone build he was hailed as the new Jonah Lomu after the New Zealand player but decided to concentrate on the discus.

His former headteacher Christopher Barnett said Okoye also got 10 GCSEs and four A-levels, adding: “He was one of the brightest boys we’ve had through the school, with enormous academic flair which has earned him a place at Oxford. He is extraordinary in many ways.”

Okoye, whose father is a Nigerian entrepreneur and mother a Home Office official, smashed the British record with a throw of 68.24 metres in May.

Only three people have thrown further than him this year.