"Messenger of hope"

Historic medal win in women’s boxing!

Cindy Ngamba

(Bild: AFP)

Boxer Cindy Ngamba has brought the refugee team the first Olympic medal in history! The 25-year-old advanced to the semi-finals on Sunday with a unanimous points victory over France's Davina Michel and has already secured bronze in the 75 kg weight category.

It is the first ever precious metal for the International Olympic Committee's Refugee Olympic Team, which is now taking part in the Summer Games for the third time after Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021. Ngamba, who lives in England, led the refugee team as flag bearer at the opening ceremony. For the first time, the team will compete in Paris with its own emblem, which has a heart in the middle.

"A message of hope!"
The refugee team is sending "a message of hope to the more than 100 million displaced people around the world", said IOC President Thomas Bach. At the same time, "the world is being made aware of the extent of the refugee crisis". 37 athletes are part of the refugee team this time, including the Iranian canoeist Saman Soltani, who lives and trains in Austria.

"I hope I give them motivation!"
"Being here means the world to me," said Ngamba after her quarter-final victory. She wanted to be an inspiration for the many refugees who "don't believe in themselves and think it's the end of the world": "I hope I give them motivation." Although she is a three-time English champion, she is not allowed to compete for Team Great Britain due to her lack of a British passport.

The boxer left her home country of Cameroon with her brother at the age of eleven to live with her father in Bolton. As a teenager, she was detained pending deportation, and it was only at the last moment that the threat of deportation was averted. In Cameroon, she fears for her safety due to her sexual orientation, as homosexuality is a criminal offense there. "So if I had been sent back, I could have been sent to prison," Ngamba told Eurosport.