Paris 2024: who is Cindy Ngamba, the boxer who could have won Cameroon a medal?

Cameroon could have won a medal at the recent Paris Olympics. But for that, Cindy Ngamba would have had to be part of the six-strong delegation of athletes who left Yaoundé on 10 July for the French capital. At 25, the boxer of Cameroonian origin made her mark by winning a bronze medal with the Refugee Team, the first in the team's history. "It means so much to me to be the first refugee to win a medal," Cindy Ngamba said after her unanimous decision from the five judges in the -75 kg quarter-final against France's Davina Michel.

Born in 1998 in Douala, Cindy Winner Djankeu Ngamba, to give her full name, has nonetheless had a complicated life story. At just 9, she left Cameroon with her mother and brother for France, before eventually settling in England two years later. On British soil, Ngamba faced several challenges, including bullying at school and the language barrier. "When I lived in Cameroon, I was an outgoing, bubbly child and all that," she told AFP. "But when I arrived in England, I wanted to become more introverted, I wanted to protect myself, probably because of the language barrier." It was precisely through these obstacles that she found the strength to take up boxing, encouraged by her older brother.

Asylum

At 15, she joined a local boxing club and quickly emerged as a promising athlete. Over the years, through hard work and stamina, she gained experience and made her mark in several weight divisions, becoming UK champion at under 81 kg, then under 75 kg, and finally under 70 kg. However, despite her success, her dream of representing Great Britain at the Olympics ran into an administrative obstacle: her refugee status. Because of her sexual orientation and the repression of homosexuality in her country of birth, she was granted asylum in the United Kingdom, but without British nationality she could not wear the Union Jack at the Olympics.

So it was under the banner of the Refugee Team that she made her Olympic debut in Paris. Flag bearer for the team alongside Syrian taekwondo athlete Yahya al-Ghotany, Cindy Ngamba represents the hope and resilience of millions of displaced people around the world. In the ring, she fights with determination. In the under 75 kg semi-final, she faced Panama's Atheyna Bibeichi Bylon, a formidable opponent. Although she lost on a split decision from the judges (4-1), she left the competition with a bronze medal, a historic first for the Refugee Team, made up of 36 athletes from 11 countries. The medal is not only a personal achievement for Ngamba, but also a powerful symbol for all refugees, showing that adversity can be turned into strength.

Arthur Wandji