Oluwatobiloba Oladapo I. A. Olusegun Olubi[1] was born on 24 September 1987[2] in a council estate in Camberwell[3] and attended Bacon's College, Saint Francis Xavier College, and Brunel University London,[4] where he read economics and politics.[5] He was initially a sprinter, but did not progress further than county level, and took up bobsledding after being invited for trials[3] due to his 6ft 4in, 112kg frame.[5] He joined Team GB's bobsled team in June 2013,[2] and was coached by Lee Johnston.[6] In 2014, Olubi made a formal complaint against Johnston[7] for telling him that "black drivers do not make good bobsleigh drivers"[8] shortly after he began training.[9]
Much of Olubi's salary was paid by UK Sport and the National Lottery and by a post as a secondary school supply teacher. In 2016, after finding that his salary wasn't enough for him to train five days a week, he applied for various British game shows.[5] He appeared on an episode of The Cube, where he lost £10,000 after failing on the fourth task, before winning £12,000 on Deal or No Deal.[10] He also appeared on Can't Touch This,[11] a game show in which contestants are shot out of a catapult and navigate an assault course;[12] he told PA Media in 2018 that he had been "shot out of a cannon" on the programme, and described himself as a "human cannonball".[13]