Jimmy Thoronka: Sierra Leone athlete who went missing after Commonwealth Games offered scholarship by London university

Sprinter: Jimmy Thoronka
BBC
Sebastian Mann6 September 2015

The top Sierra Leone sprinter who spent weeks on the streets after absconding from last year's Commonwealth Games has been offered a sports scholarship at a London university.

Jimmy Thoronka, 21, slept rough after going missing at the end of the competition because he feared contracting Ebola if he returned to his home nation.

He was given the news during the games that his uncle was suspected to have died from the virus.

Today the University of East London, where British sprinter Adam Gemili studied before graduating this summer, said it was offering the 100m runner a scholarship to study at one of its Newham campuses should the Home Office grant permission for him to stay in the country.

“I am so happy to have received this offer,” Mr Thoronka told the Guardian. “They invited me to visit and have a look at all the athletic and academic facilities.

"It was fantastic. If I am able to study and train there, it will be my dream.”

If he is given leave to remain in the UK, Mr Thoronka plans to study a foundation course in applied community sport at the university - a programme run in association with West Ham FC.

UEL Deputy Vice-Chancellor Dusty Amroliwala said: “Jimmy’s story is both poignant and unique. UEL is a place of abundant opportunity, where a strong sense of social justice runs deeply through the entire fabric of our institution.

“We recognise the potential Jimmy has as a scholar and we are keen to support him in his ambition to enter higher education. As a university that already attracts world-class, high-performing athletes, we are equally keen to help him to achieve his sporting dreams."

Before his disappearance last year, Thoronka was running the 100-metres in 10.58 seconds, and won an award in Sierra Leone for best male athlete in 2013.

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