Refugee trailblazer Cindy Ngamba wants to bring ‘hope to millions’ with Olympic boxing achievement

Remarkable refugee trailblazer Cindy Ngamba believes boxing her way to a historic Olympic medal can serve as a beacon of hope for millions of others battling adversity across the world.

The Cameroonian-born fighter, who is based with GB Boxing in Sheffield, became the first ever Refugee Olympic Team athlete to achieve that feat last night as her inspirational run came to an end at Roland-Garros.

Ngamba was unable to overcome Panama’s Atheyna Bylon as she went down on a 4:1 semi-final verdict to bank bronze despite another lion-hearted performance in the French capital.

Ngamba, 25, fled her home country aged 11 to pursue a ‘better life’ but has encountered multiple obstacles since arriving in the UK.

The three-weight national champion, who has been out as LGBTQ+ since the age of 18, has fought continually to gain British citizenship while it remains unsafe to return to Cameroon, a nation where it is still illegal to be gay and human rights groups have documented the rising persecution of LGBTQ+ people in the country.

But despite those fears, at the age of 17, Ngamba was surrounded by law enforcement at one of her regular appointments at an immigration office before being taken to a detention centre in London where the authorities sought to deport her.

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This did not materialise owing to the political and cultural Cameroonian climate and in the eight years that followed, Ngamba astonishingly navigated her way to the bright Olympic lights.

She was one of 37 athletes from 11 countries representing the Refugee Olympic Team in Paris, a concept introduced ahead of Rio 2016 in light of the global crisis and one Ngamba had the privilege of carrying the flag for at the opening ceremony.

In the days that followed, she outboxed, outfoxed and outthought both rangy Canadian Tammara Thibeault and French home favourite Davina Michel to secure herself a history-making medal.

And while she was unable to turn bronze to a shot at gold in front of a raucous Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd, she couldn’t be prouder of blazing a trail for the 100m other refugees across the planet.

“Being here means the world to me – and I hope that it means the same to all the others around the world,” she said.

“For people that are going through so many issues and obstacles, they can believe in themselves and feel like it’s not the end of the world. I hope that them watching me and they can see that anything in life that you go through, you’re able to overcome it.

“I’ve got through so many obstacles in life, just like so many other refugees around the world. I am one of millions of refugees around the world, billions of humans and I hope to give them motivation too.”

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Ngamba’s story looked to be an initial rare ray of light for GB Boxing as five of the six British fighters crashed out in the first round.

But middleweight Lewis Richardson, the last to compete of the official Team GB contingent - excluding Ngamba - banked a brilliant bronze himself.

The Essex ace, 27, won two middleweight bouts in the French capital as he proudly flew the British flag. He was unable to battle past Mexican Marco Verde in an action-packed semi-final but departed Roland-Garros with his head held high.

“I’ve created history in Colchester and I’m proud of that,” he said. “I’ve opened doors and I’ve got a bright future.

“To box at Roland-Garros is a very special moment of my life. It’s been the best year of my life, I’ve achieved some amazing things in and out of the ring.

“These are memories for life, for me and those close to me. I’ve been ultra professional and I’ve represented my country with pride and honour. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved because I’ve brought a bronze medal.

“I hope I’ve made the country proud.”

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