Cindy Ngamba

Cindy Winner Djankeu Ngamba (born 7 September 1998)^[1] is a Cameroonian boxer based in the United Kingdom, who was the first-ever medalist for the Refugee Olympic Team, having won bronze in women's 75 kg boxing at the 2024 Summer Olympics. She also competed for the EOC Refugee Team at the 2023 European Games, before becoming a professional boxer in January 2025.

Cindy Ngamba

Ngamba in 2024
Personal information
National team	Refugee Olympic Team
Born	(1998-09-07) 7 September 1998 (age 26) Douala, Cameroon
Weight	Middleweight
Sport
Sport	Boxing
Club	Bolton
Medal record Women's amateur boxing Representing  Refugee Olympic Team Olympic Games 2024 Paris Middleweight

As of 2024, Ngamba is the only person from the Refugee Olympic Team to have ever won a medal.

Personal life

Ngamba was born in Cameroon.^[2] At the age of 11, Ngamba moved to the United Kingdom.^[2] Her uncle lost Ngamba's immigration paperwork when he moved back to Cameroon.^[3] Ngamba has since gained a BA (Hons) degree in Crime and Criminal Justice at the University of Bolton.^[4]

In 2019,^[3] Ngamba and her brother were detained whilst attending an immigration office in Bolton and sent to a detention centre in London.^[4][5] They were released the following day.^[4] Aged 18, Ngamba came out as lesbian; as such, she is unable to return to Cameroon without risk of imprisonment, as homosexuality is illegal there.^[2]

Amateur career

Ngamba trained with GB Boxing, although she could not compete for Great Britain as she does not have a British passport.^[2] She has won British National Amateur Championships in three different weight categories, making her the first woman to achieve the feat since Natasha Jonas.^[4][2] In 2023, Ngamba won a Bocskai event in Hungary,^[5] and competed in the under 75kg event^[6] for the EOC Refugee Team at the 2023 European Games.^[2]

She competed for the Refugee Olympic Team in the 2024 World Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament 1^[4] and qualified for the Summer Olympics in Paris, alongside her British colleague Chantelle Reid.^[7] On 2 May 2024, Ngamba was officially named in the Refugee Olympic Team making her the first boxer to be selected for the team.^[8] She was also chosen as one of the Refugee Olympic Team flag-bearers for the opening ceremony alongside Syrian Taekwondo athlete Yahya Al-Ghotany.^[9][10]

Ngamba was drawn to fight 2022 IBA Women's World Boxing Championships gold medalist Tammara Thibeault from Canada in the first round^[11][12] and won by 3:2 split decision.^[13][14] She defeated 2022 World Championship bronze medalist Davina Michel of France via unanimous decision in the quarter-finals of the 2024 Paris Olympics to guarantee herself at least a bronze medal and in the process becoming the first person to win an Olympic medal for the Refugee Olympic Team.^[15][16][17] She fought Atheyna Bylon from Panama in the semi-finals and lost by 4:1 split decision, therefore taking a bronze medal.^[18][19]

Professional career

Ngamba turned professional and signed a multi-fight contract with promotors Boxxer in January 2025.^[20] She was scheduled to make her pro-debut against Kirstie Bavington at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 7 March 2025.^[21] However, Ngamba withdrew from the bout the day before it was set to take place due to an issue discovered during her pre-fight medical.^[22]

See also

• Zakia Khudadadi, Afghan athlete, first medalist for the Refugee Paralympic Team at 2024 Summer Paralympics