Ngamba beaten but takes refugee team’s first medal

Cindy Ngamba was beaten in her boxing semi-final but will still return from Paris 2024 with a historic bronze medal – the first by an athlete from the Refugee Olympic Team.

Having already secured a medal by reaching the last four, 25-year-old Ngamba, who lives in the UK and trains with the GB squad, was beaten by Panama’s Atheyna Bylon in the 75kg category.

Bylon, 35, was penalised a point for excessive holding in the final round of a tight bout before one judge gave Ngamba the win and another sided with her opponent.

But the three judges who had previously scored the fight even all ultimately sided with Bylon for a 4-1 victory – a decision that was met with loud boos at Roland Garros Arena.

“They voted for the boxer who was incredibly negative throughout the three rounds,” BBC boxing expert Steve Bunce said.

“Ngamba is broken and upset. She knows she has done enough to win.

“Bylon picked up a warning and they still gave her the verdict. I find that really, really odd.”

Despite being visibly upset and frustrated by the result, Ngamba’s place in history remains assured as the first athlete in any sport to secure a medal while representing the refugee team.

She moved to the UK aged 10 and is unable to return to the country of her birth, Cameroon, because of her sexuality – homosexuality is punishable with up to five years in prison in the African country.

Aged 20, Ngamba was arrested, along with her brother Kennet, and sent from Manchester to a detention camp in London and at risk of being deported until being released a day later.

She lives in Bolton, where she took up boxing aged 15, and has since graduated from Bolton University with a degree in criminology.

She is yet to gain British citizenship, however, which prevented her from being part of Team GB in Paris.

She trains with the squad in Sheffield, took part in the pre-Games photoshoot with the British squad and had GB Boxing coaches in her corner against Bylon.

The refugee team was first introduced in 2016 for the Rio Olympics but did not win a medal in Brazil or five years later in Tokyo.

Their squad is made up of 37 athletes in Paris across 12 sports with Ngamba one of the flagbearers at the opening ceremony.

Other athletes include runner Dominic Lobalu, cyclist Eyeru Gebru and Farzad Mansouri, who competes in taekwondo.

Elsewhere in Thursday’s boxing, Hasanboy Dusmatov won gold for Uzbekistan in the men’s 51kg category by beating home favourite Billal Bennama.

China’s Yuan Chang also took gold in the women’s 54kg with victory over Turkey’s Hatice Akbas.