Football: Why former New Zealand international Michael O'Keeffe 'felt so out of place' at Olympics

  • 28/04/2023

Former New Zealand football international Michael O'Keeffe has opened up about feeling "so out of place" while attending the Olympics in 2012.

O'Keeffe represented the New Zealand under-23 football side as a goalkeeper at the London Games.

He reflected on his time at the Games during AM's panel on Friday, where he was asked about the Olympic Village and whether it was like a party zone.

"The village isn't, per se, but you definitely go outside the village and get amongst the bars," said O'Keeffe, who's now a journalist and was this week's AM newsreader. "There are parties organised for Olympians that obviously everyone goes to and I felt so out of place.

"I'm at these things and you've got just hulk of men… and I'm just like, 'Woah, what am I doing here?'"

Later in the show, O'Keeffe was reading a sports story about Formula One driver Charles Leclerc, who's recently released his first-ever song.

AM co-host Laura Tupou suggested Leclerc was a "classic overachiever just like Michael O'Keeffe".

"When are you going to release your album?" Tupou asked O'Keeffe.

"Never," he told Tupou. "I am so musically untalented it's not funny.

"I've got stiff wrists and fingers from being a goalkeeper - just having them sprained all the time."

Watch the full conversation above.