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 brushes with officialdom and was arrested and thrown into a detention camp aged 20 when she went to tell the authorities where she was living.
After her landmark victory, she had a message for refugees everywhere. “I want to say to all the refugees all around the world and refugees that are not athletes..
. that you have to keep on working hard,” she said. “Keep on believing in yourself, you can achieve whatever you put your mind to.
” Ngamba defied the home crowd, who roared on the home boxer, to methodically dismantle Michel over the three rounds. The decision was never in doubt. Ngamba, who faces Atheyna Bylon of Panama on Thursday for a place in the final, said she had enjoyed silencing the crowd at North Paris Arena.
“A lot of people were not cheering for me, but I listened to my team, to my coaches, to myself,” she said. “I stayed calm and composed. I’m happy that I got the job done.
“Hopefully, in the next one, I can get the job done -- not hopefully, I will get it done.” — AFP.
