The BBC World Service has been talking to Loughborough College athlete Adeline Gouenon about her incredible journey from an Ivory Coast foster home to academic and sporting success.
The BBC channel broadcasts to 42 million listeners globally and interviewed the Ivory Coast sprinter and Sport student while visiting Loughborough College.
Adeline, 20, describes how a chance meeting with a British woman while working as a guide at her foster home led to her move to the UK three years ago and to the opportunity to compete in the Olympics.
“I met a woman who said she didn’t know much about sport or athletics but she would see what she could do. The next thing I knew she got in touch with me to say, We’ve got a scholarship for you.
“I thought, No way, is she messing with me? I was so happy but also reluctant to be. I couldn’t believe it was really going to happen. I only allowed myself to believe it when I got here.
“Loughborough College has been fantastic helping me keep up with my training alongside my learning.
“Steve Wilkinson, my Learning Coach at Loughborough College, really has been unbelievable. He helped me from day one and I really am so grateful to him.”
Adeline won bronze at the recent African Championships and is now rated number two in Africa. “My main focus now is Rio 2016. If I get there I will be really emotional.
“Competing in the Olympics is something I used to only dream of.
“If I ever go back to my foster home I will tell the children, It doesn’t matter what background you are from, if you believe in something and work hard you can get it.”
Listen to Adeline’s BBC World Service interview here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p026z1zr
Picture shows Loughborough College athlete Adeline Gouenon being interviewed by BBC World Service’s Caroline Barker at the College’s Elite Athlete Performance Centre