Boxer Cindy Ngamba on Sunday became the first member of the Refugee Olympic Team to clinch a medal at the Paris Games, representing a team created to call attention to the plight of refugees around the world. Ngamba, who cannot return to her home country of Cameroon, won a fierce bout with French boxer Davina Michel in the women's 75-kilogram quarterfinals in front of a passionate French crowd, the AP reports. The victory means Ngamba has scored at least a bronze medal as she advances to the semifinals Friday night. "I hope I can change the medal in my next fight," she said, per ESPN. "It means the world to me."
Ngamba, who upset former world champion Tammara Thibeault of Canada in her first bout, screamed and pumped her fist when she won Sunday. She was a flag bearer for the 37 athletes making up the biggest Refugee Olympic Team since the idea was born ahead of the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. The International Olympic Committee formed the team as a way for displaced athletes and migrants to participate fully in the Olympics without help from national federations, per the AP. The refugee team was among the first Olympic delegations to cruise the Seine River in the Paris opening ceremony.
Ngamba moved to the United Kingdom at age 11 and said she was granted refugee status in 2021 because she could have been imprisoned in Cameroon for being gay. She has said boxing has been her escape from the chaos and has lifted her up to the international stage. While some of the team's athletes won Olympic medals for their countries in past Games, Ngamba has been seen as the team's best chance at medaling in Paris. "I want to say to all the refugee around the world ... keep on believing in yourself, you can achieve whatever you put your mind to," she said Sunday.
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