Paris Olympics: African LGBTQ+ Boxer Cindy Ngamba Wins Medal

Cameroonian-born boxer Cindy Ngamba has become the only openly LGBTQ+ African athlete to win a medal at the Paris Olympic Games.

Ngamba, competing under the banner of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team, secured a bronze in the women’s boxing 75kg class after narrowly losing to Panama’s Atheyna Bylon on Thursday.

The 25-year-old is also the first-ever athlete to win a medal for the Refugee Olympic Team, which comprises 37 athletes from across the globe.

“It means the world to me to become the first-ever refugee athlete to win a medal,” she said in a statement from GB Boxing. “I’m human, just like any other refugee around the world. To any refugee out there, athlete or not, keep believing in yourself—you can achieve whatever you put your mind to.”

Masomah Ali Zada, the Chef de Mission for the Paris 2024 Refugee Olympic Team, praised Ngamba for demonstrating to the world what refugees can achieve. “She has been an inspiration to a population of more than 120 million people and has given light to our stories and our journeys. For that, we are forever grateful.”

Living in the UK since the age of 11, Ngamba is supported by the British Olympic Association and trains with GB Boxing. She is a three-time English national champion and holds a BA (Hons) degree in Crime and Criminal Justice.

As an openly queer woman, Ngamba fought for refugee status for years to avoid returning to Cameroon, where homosexuality is illegal.

Ngamba and her brother were detained by British immigration officials in a London refugee detention centre in 2019 before being released. She still does not have a British passport.

“I came out at 18, and my solicitor did a background check on my country and saw you could get put in prison or killed. With me being gay, I could not be sent back,” she told the Independent in 2023.

South Africa was the only African country to field openly LGBTQ+ competitors at the Paris Olympic Games, with Dirkie Chamberlain competing in field hockey, Kemisetso Baloyi in rugby, and Sarah Baum in surfing. Unfortunately, they did not win any medals.

According to Outsports’ updated list of publicly out Paris Olympic athletes, a record-breaking 195 LGBTQ+ athletes are competing in this year’s Games in the French capital.

At the time of publication, these athletes had won a total of 42 medals. If Team LGBTQ+ were a country, it would be in seventh place in the overall medals tally.