Sindy Ngamba has already made history: she beat Davina Michel to reach the middleweight semi-finals at Paris 2024 and become the first refugee athlete to win an Olympic medal.
Guaranteed at least a bronze medal, Ngamba will face former world championship gold medallist Athena Byron of Panama on Thursday night at Roland Garros for a place in the final.
Ngamba opened the tournament in Paris with a spectacular win over Canada’s talented World Gold Medalist Tamara Thibaut, before scoring a major upset victory in the quarter-finals against host country boxer Michelle in front of a rapturous French crowd.
“I only heard the boos when I was walking to the ring. After that I just listened to my coach and myself and got the job done,” Ngamba said.
“People won’t believe you. For example, many French fans didn’t believe me.”
“You just have to keep working hard and keep believing in yourself. You can achieve anything if you put your mind to it,” she continued.
“To be the first refugee team member to win a medal means the world to me. I am a human being just like every other refugee. There are refugees all over the world.”
The Bolton-based middleweight has made headlines with her medal win but her progress will not come as a shock to many in British boxing circles.
Ngamba is a three-division world champion in English boxing and is supported by the British team, training alongside Tokyo Olympic middleweight gold medallist and current WBA welterweight world champion Lauren Price.
Price isn’t the only world champion to have used Ngamba for sparring; unbeaten super middleweight Savannah Marshall, former unbeaten super lightweight champion Chantelle Cameron and two-division world champion Natasha Jonas have also used Ngamba for sparring.
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Cindy Ngamba speaks of her pride at being selected for the IOC Refugee Olympic Team and describes her near-deportation from the UK.
They did it for a reason: “She’s tough, she’s very skilled, and I’ve seen her improve from when she first came to sparring to when she was here recently,” Jonas said. Sky Sports.
“She’s grown, she’s gotten better, her IQ has gone up – all those things you learn in Britain. Being number one in England or the UK is quite different to being number one in the world, but those skills you learn in a team, playing tournaments every other month and learning how to box internationally. It’s different but you can see she’s done it.”
Ngamba has another key ingredient to her success: “Not only that, she believes in what she does,” Jonas explained.
“[Once] She just needed a little encouragement, but now she knows how good she is. I think now she believes how good she is. We’ve seen it all along, but she never fully believed it, and now she does. She has the potential to be a real threat.”
Jonas, who was an Olympian in 2012 and lost in the quarterfinals to Katie Taylor, sent a message to Ngamba ahead of the tournament: “Let’s enjoy this moment.”
It’s rare to even make it to the Olympics, but even rarer to win a medal.
Jonas explained: “Obviously, we’re very results-driven, so we’re always focused on results, but at the same time, I wasn’t really enjoying the moment.”
Cindy Ngamba celebrates epic win over world champion
“Only one in millions will get there, so take that into consideration and remember that you’ve worked hard to get to this moment, but don’t forget to enjoy it too.”
“Most of the world will never get to experience it. Enjoy it, document it, talk about how you feel, take lots of pictures and enjoy the experience of actually being there, because soon, and very soon, it will be a distant memory.”
But that doesn’t detract from the results.
“at that time [of her Olympics] “I was thinking about the result, who I was going to face, how I was going to box. I just wasn’t happy to be there,” Jonas said.
“I’m not talking about losing your mind. I’m talking about staying focused, remembering your tactics and what you’ve been working on. But when you hear the crowd, when you’re walking through the Olympic Village, when you see the people, stand there and take a moment and think, ‘Wow, I’m here. I’m proud to be here.'”
“Looking back now, I think it was a great thing.”
