Can Boxer Cindy Ngamba Secure Refugee Team’s Historic First Medal at Paris Olympics?

After a grueling bout against a former world champion, the possibility of the Refugee Team’s first Olympic medal feels closer than ever.

PARIS, France — Her name echoing around the stadium, Cindy Ngamba climbed into the Olympic ring, dancing from foot to foot as she threw jabs with her bright blue Paris 2024 boxing gloves. By winning her first fight at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday, the 25-year-old Ngamba is now just one victory away from clinching the Refugee Team’s first Olympic medal. She won after a grueling bout against 2022 world champion Tammara Thibeault of Canada.

“I’m going to be the first ever refugee to make it out there,” she said. “There’s a lot of pressure out there. I am human, I have emotion, and I’m not going to hide about that … but I never let pressure bring me down. I’ve gone through so many obstacles in life, just like millions of refugees.” Ngamba is among the 37 athletes who make up the largest Olympic Refugee Team since the concept’s inception before the Rio de Janeiro Summer Games in 2016.

This team offers a sanctuary for athletes who had to flee their countries due to war or political persecution, allowing them to continue their sports. Many saw Ngamba’s triumph on Wednesday as a beacon of hope amid record global migration, with 100 million people forcibly displaced.

The team is “a symbol of inclusion, of equality, of achievement for a large community around the world of refugees and displaced people,” U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi told the AP in an interview on Sunday.

Ngamba was born in Cameroon and moved to England at 11. She moved “for a better life” and faced challenges to start anew in a foreign land. She now trains alongside the British team in Sheffield. “There are so many refugees that are going through so many issues,” she said. “They don’t believe in themselves and they feel like it’s the end of the world. I hope by them watching me, they see that anything in life I’ve gone through I’ve been able to overcome.”

The refugee team has had some visibility at the Paris Games, being among the first Olympic delegations to cruise along the Seine River during the opening ceremonies last week. On Wednesday, a crowded stadium roared for Ngamba while a pack of supporters carried signs reading “For the refugees.” She responded with her gloves, expelling air as she landed blows.

Thibeault, who won the world middleweight title in 2022 and was seeded No. 3 in Paris, was outpointed by Ngamba in a split decision. Ngamba claimed the third round on four cards to secure the win. “I pushed my body so hard to the point where I’m thinking ‘wow, why am I doing this?” Ngamba said. “You strive each day, each second, each hour. When I qualified for the Olympics, I said, ’Wow I actually think I’m made for this.”

AP Sports Writer Graham Dunbar contributed from Paris.