Jason's Story
Jason Whateley from Sale in Victoria made his Olympic debut in the men’s heavyweight 91kg boxing division in Rio.
Whateley faced a tough home-town favourite, Brazilian Juan Nogueira in his opening fight and first Olympic appearance. The 25-year-old went down in a 3-0 unanimous decision in favour of the local athlete.
Whateley secured his spot on the team after winning a bronze medal at the 2016 Asia/Oceania Olympic Qualification Tournament in China in early 2016.
Whateley starting boxing through his local football club, after being asked to participate in an amateur competition. Having only trained for six weeks, Whateley won the bout by knocking out his opponent, and his addiction to the sport began.
The 196cm ‘man-mountain’ won back-to-back National 91kg heavyweight titles in 2015 and 2016, after previously receiving four silver medals at previous Australian championships.
After narrowly missing his chance for the London 2012 Games, with a silver at the Australian qualifying event, Whateley represented Australia at both the 2013 and 2015 world boxing championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan and in Doha, Qatar.
Outside of the ring, Whateley is a qualified personal trainer, runs his own gym ‘Pure Boxing’ where he works alongside elite swimmers and members of the AFL club Hawthorn.
