Like many Olympic hopefuls, three-time national boxing champion Angel Bovee had to make a choice––continue life as she knew it, working 9-to-5 at an Albany, N.Y. news station, or give up virtually everything for her shot at a gold.
It was a no-brainer.
"I made the decision to quit my job, sell my apartment, and take out a $15,000 personal loan," Bovee told Business Insider.
Everything about the move was a gamble. It was 2002 and women's' boxing wasn't even included in the Olympic games.
Bovee went to work anyway, paying her own way to fights and living out of her car for months to afford the training she needed to compete.
"I didn't wrestle with (my choice)," she said. "If you want to go to the Olympics, you have to do this. You get rid of the fear and the doubt."
With the $15,000 loan as her only source of income, renting an apartment was out. Bovee spent most nights parked inside her two-door Plymouth Sundance at this Poughkeepsie, N.Y. train station. "I was able to train full-time, which was a luxury," she says. "On the flip-side, it was also very hard to live in my car and make that work and try to budget my money."
Photo: Courtesy Angel Bovee
She commuted to Brooklyn each morning for gym time––and took advantage of the free showers. "They were undergoing construction at the time and that was one of the reasons I could (get away with it)," she says. Chance encounters with other boxers led her to pet- and house-sitting gigs here and there.
Photo: Courtesy Angel Bovee
After six months, winter arrived and the train station routine was no longer a viable option. "$15,000 goes fast, I'll tell you that," she says. "Especially in New York City." Refusing to give up her gym time, she got certified as a personal trainer for extra income and was able to rent an apartment with a roommate.
Photo: Courtesy Angel Bovee
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