At 14 years of age, Ousmani Traore set out on a journey from the Skeleton Coast in Mauritania, West Africa, to the Canary Islands, to follow his dream of playing professional football.

Traore had been inspired by watching his favorite footballer Fernando Torres, who played for Atletico Madrid, Liverpool and Chelsea. He believed that once he reached Spain, he would have the opportunity to emulate his hero's footballing success.

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But that dream looked over before it had even begun – and instead of finding a new life, he was face to face with death. At a particularly dangerous part of the crossing, the engines stopped working – and Traore still clearly remembers the chaos.

"Both engines of the boat stopped in the middle of the ocean, it was a terrifying moment," he tells CGTN. "Everybody was saying we wouldn't reach land, that we were all going to die.

"The boat was totally packed, you couldn't even move."

In such a volatile situation, panic broke out. 

"The captains were trying to reassure us that everything was going to be fine. They worked on the engines for 40 minutes... we were all crying, and adults were trying to protect us."

Traore said he started to think about his family back in the tiny impoverished village of Fereni – particularly his mother, who he had not even told he was leaving.

"You always remember your mother, she's the one that takes care of you, and at that moment I could only pray to God asking if I could see my mother again."

Finally the engines started and three days and three nights later, they made it to the Canaries. It was the coldest weather conditions he had ever endured – but he was glad to make it alive.

Sporting inspiration

Taken to an immigrant center on the Canaries, all Traore had with him was a small bag – with a Fernando Torres football shirt inside – and a big dream.

"At the beginning I felt alone," he says. "I was a kid who left his whole family behind, my mum, and friends, but I made friends in the center for foreign minors.

"The teachers always tried to help us, that was something positive, but at the beginning I felt lonely and I missed my family."

As a child in his hometown of Fereni, he would walk 10 kilometers to watch Torres play on TV.

His brother gave him a Torres shirt as a gift and it became his most prized possession – but although his first aim was to be a footballer, he ended up changing his path.

From refugee to the champion of Spain

From the immigrant center, Traore ended up in Ponferrada in Spain's northern Bierzo region, where he took up the Brazilian martial art capoeira and was spotted by kickboxing trainer Diego Vazquez.

Vazquez had a keen eye for talent. In 2019, Traore became the Muay Thai champion of Spain with a spectacular knockout, and retains the title to this day. But now he is focused on achieving something much bigger – representing Spain at the Olympics.

Unfortunately, there will be no Muay Thai and kickboxing contests at the Paris 2024 Olympics, but hopes are high that there will be categories for these contests at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. His dream is to be there in Spanish colors.

'Like a movie script'

His life in Madrid is worlds away from that near-tragic boat crossing.

While the pandemic hampered his rise shortly after becoming national Muay Thai champion, he has now got a steady job in a cardboard factory and trains all the hours he can at the Arganda Del Rey School of Boxing.

His coach Richard Felix, who hails from the Dominican Republic, believes his Olympic dream is an audacious one – almost as tough as that boat crossing he once braved – but he believes that it can come true.

"His life has been an incredible adventure, to achieve what he has achieved coming from where he has come from. It's almost impossible, like a movie script," Felix tells CGTN.

"LA 2028 is a real possibility if we succeed in the different goals we have set for the short term. First, we have to get on the international circuit after winning national competitions."

Giving back

For all the bright lights and big hopes, Traore has never forgotten his roots. His hometown of Fereni, with a population of just 800, sorely lacks infrastructure for the children who live there.

It's often said that Africa does not lack talent, it lacks opportunity – and that's why he has founded his own NGO, Bierzo de Mandana.

In 2016, he returned to Fereni to a hero's welcome. He also sent a shipping container full of books, clothes, toys and sports equipment for local kids.

The plan now for Traore and his NGO is to raise enough money to eventually build a school with sports facilities there. The objective is to give the next generation better chances in life – so they do not feel the need to risk their own lives on dangerous boat journeys.

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