Paris: Cindy Ngamba guaranteed the Refugee Olympic Team their first medal in history after comfortably winning her boxing quarter-final in Paris yesterday. Ngamba, who was born in Cameroon but sought safe haven in Britain aged 11, beat France’s Davina Michel with a unanimous points decision to reach the last four of the women’s 75kg category and win at least bronze. “It means the world to me to be the first refugee team member to win a medal,” said Ngamba, 25, who was the flag-bearer for her team at the opening ceremony.
“I’m just human, like any other refugee,” added Ngamba, who is a lesbian, which is illegal in her native country. The Refugee Olympic Team first competed at the Rio 2016 Games and is designed to represent forcibly displaced people worldwide. There are 37 athletes competing for the team in Paris from more than a dozen countries.
Ngamba qualified by right for the boxing competition -- the first Refugee Athlete to achieve that -- and won her second bout in a row with ease for a place in the semi-finals. Boxing hands out bronze medals for losing semi-finalists. Britain wanted to select Ngamba in their boxing team for the Paris Games and boxing officials appealed unsuccessfully for her to receive a British passport.
After moving to Britain as a child, Ngamba had a tough upbringing, bullied at school for her poor English, her weight, and her body odour. Two gym teachers decided to look out for her and introduced her to boxing. Ngamba has had her brush.