As a featherweight boxer, Jahmal Harvey moves quickly. He bobs and weaves, lands his punches, and his feet never rest – all without missing a beat.

“Yeah, I’ve always been an athlete. I don’t like just sitting down. I’ve always got to be active – up doing something, moving around,” says Harvey during breaks in a workout at his home gym in Capitol Heights, Md.

Harvey began competing nine years ago, and when he’s preparing for a boxing match almost every day starts the same: He’s up early in the morning for exercise – maybe a run or jump roping, followed by strength training. Afterwards, he has a light breakfast (either oatmeal or eggs – but he does love his cereal).

By the afternoon, though, Harvey’s busy either sparring or hitting the bags.

This steadfast lifestyle has paid off for Harvey – in October he became the first male boxer for Team USA to qualify for the upcoming Olympics in Paris, after winning gold at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. But the 21-year-old from Oxon Hill, Md., says he never expected to become a world contender when he first picked up the gloves.

At 12 years old, Harvey’s youth football coach introduced him to boxing in between seasons.

“Truth be told, when I first started boxing, I didn’t know what I was doing,” says Harvey. “And then football season came around. I was like, ‘No, I don’t want it to stop boxing.’”

Since then, Harvey has won multiple national championships. In 2021, he became a world champion when he won the gold for the featherweight division. Throughout that time, and even now, Harvey is still technically considered an amateur in the sport. But he’s come a long way.

“I’ve been to Italy, Bulgaria, Ecuador and Great Britain, Finland, Czech Republic, Germany,” says Harvey. “It feels good to compete on that world level.”

For Harvey, going to the Olympics this summer means he’ll be up against some of the best boxers in the world. “It keeps you grounded because you’ve always got to be at the top of your game, because you can lose at any given time,” he says.

So for the past few weeks, he’s been training even harder than before at both the USA facility in Colorado and at his hometown Oxon Hill Boxing Club in Maryland, where coaches Darrell Davis, Lemor Geddie, and others work with him on everything from sparring to conditioning to nutrition.

Harvey, who fights at the featherweight class, must weigh in at about 125 pounds at the time of competition, which his coaches say can be difficult as he’s only 21 years old and is still growing.

“It’s always a fight for him just to maintain the weight where he’s at right now,” says Geddie, his strength and conditioning coach in Maryland. “He’s not getting smaller. He’s getting bigger.”

Not only does Harvey need to maintain his weight, but he needs to continuously increase his athletic and pugilistic skills, too. To do this, his coaches make him spar one-on-one with other high-level athletes, or with multiple partners, a different person each round. Fresh “bodies,” as coach Darrell Davis calls them, ready to push Harvey to his limits.

“It’s levels to boxing. So you got to keep leveling up. You can’t stay there or you get stuck there,” says Davis, the football coach who introduced Harvey to boxing.

As someone who’s also from Prince George’s County and has known Harvey since he was around 8 years-old, Davis says he’s excited for Harvey to compete at the Olympics – no matter the outcome.

“If he takes it home, that’d be just another notch on his belt – but I’m already proud of him,” says Davis. “You know, if he decides to never want to box again, it doesn’t matter. He’s done a lot that a lot of people can dream [of, but] that they couldn’t do.”

Although Harvey might be one of the best amateur boxers in the United States, he is humble, and often credits his coaches and his family for his success – or downplays it. When asked if he remembers the moment he realized how good of a competitor he is, Harvey replies that he’s more concerned with his next challenge.

“I know I’m doing big things but it’s always more things to accomplish,” says Harvey. “So it’s, ‘Am I good enough to do that?’ There’s always moving on to the next thing, not staying complacent.”

To some, that might come in contrast to the braggadocio that is stereotypical of the boxing world, but humility seems natural for Harvey. He doesn’t shy away from sharing that he lost a few fights last year, which motivated him to get better. He even offers advice to aspiring boxers – kids that he knows might be looking towards him.

“It’s going to be hard days where you’re going to want to quit. It’s all about dedication. Staying dedicated in the gym. Just pushing yourself to the max and then just keep on going,” says Harvey. “Don’t be scared to learn how to take an L, so you could take some wins.”

To be clear, Harvey is a tough competitor, but he’s also an easy going young man. And like most 21 year-olds, he likes to spend time with his family and friends – including a birthday trip to Las Vegas last month.

He enjoys playing video games, watching football, and going out to bowl or golf. Harvey also reads lots of books. In particular, mystery and thriller novels, much to his parents’ and coaches’ surprise. Though, he argues the genre helps with his focus and gives his mind a break from boxing. “I feel like reading is the most therapeutic for me,” he says.

And of course, Harvey really likes his cereal. His favorite brand right now is cinnamon oat crunch Cheerios. Still, he remains disciplined, even when it comes to his favorite foods.

“I be having to cut that out – because it’s like so sugary – once I [need to] make weight,” says Harvey. “But I’ll work out five times to get me a bowl of cereal, anytime.”

Despite Harvey’s tenacity and accomplishments, he still has a literal Olympian task ahead of him. He says it can be hard to maintain the discipline he needs, but he doesn’t have to look far to keep motivated.

“I want to be better for myself and do better for me,” says Harvey. “Then another aspect is just family. Like waiting to have my whole family financially stable.”

As a competitive boxer, there is a living and prize money to be made from the sport. Harvey, a self-described “family man,” says he doesn’t want to change his lifestyle much. He just wants to give back to his loved ones so that they can live comfortably, instead of working overtime and worrying about bills, mortgage payments, and car notes.

“I got to grow up and be around some very supportive parents. My step parents, my coach, and all them. They guided me right through life and gave me a good mindset,” he says.

His mother, Kim Harvey, says the support Harvey has needed goes far beyond the boxing ring. Like when her son first moved to Colorado to train, he struggled with the new environment and felt homesick.

“My mental was all over the place. Like I didn’t want to be here, I wanted to be home,” he says.

Thankfully, she says, her son was able to count on his small circle of family, friends, and coaches to help him overcome that initial struggle.

“It’s bigger than boxing. Having that family-oriented gym, I think has made him 100% better because a lot of people don’t have that. Everybody is here to support. We’re all here for him as a team,” she says.

It’s not only Harvey’s family and hometown coaches who’ve been there for his mental and physical well-being. Some of his coaches at USA Boxing (the governing body for Olympic-style boxing in the United States, which is overseen by the U.S. Olympic Committee) have been working with Harvey for years, so they’ve helped him grow not just as a world-class boxer, but as an individual.

“It’s pretty special to see the kid come up through the ranks,” said Jose Polanco, assistant high performance director for USA Boxing, in a video that Kim Harvey shared with DCist/WAMU.

Billy Walsh, the national head coach for USA Boxing, was also among those who recently celebrated Harvey for securing his spot at the 2024 Olympics after winning at the Pan American Games.

“That ticket didn’t just begin the week, two weeks, that we spent in Chile. It began months and years in advance,” said Walsh. “He has been a different athlete.”

“I dare say that we are looking at one of the future gold medalists at the Olympics,” said Christine Lopez, another coach at USA Boxing.

While the road to the Olympics is not an easy one, Harvey’s father, Jamar Moody, says he’s “overwhelmed” with joy to see his son work toward his passion at such a high level.

“I’m just proud of him,” says Moody. “He could be doing so much other negative things right now. And for him to just keep on going… pushing himself two, three times a day in a gym is just amazing.”

In December, Harvey’s family organized a meet and greet at his gym in Capitol Heights before flying to Colorado to train for the Olympics. He’ll be back briefly for the holidays but after that, he plans to lock his focus on one goal:

“To get this Olympic gold medal in 2024 and go pro,” says Harvey. “I’m just going to go in there and just keep doing what I’m doing – working hard and just take it one fight at a time.