Cindy Winner Djankeu Ngamba of Refugee Olympic Team looks on against Davina Michel of Team France. GETTY IMAGES

She could not live in her own country, Cameroon, where being LGBTQ is a cause for persecution and violence. Neither did Cindy Ngamba have it easy in UK, which tried to deport her back home. The police arrested her and her brother.

That is what it is means to be a refugee: to be no longer from the country you were born in, due to war, famine, or political persecution, and a victim of prejudice in your host country (Currently refugee centres are being attacked in the UK).

The Olympic Games were born, both in Greece and in the modern era, with a message of peace, of trying to stop wars and to highlight what unites people through sport, effort, discipline and self-improvement.

In the 21st century, to talk about peace is to talk about people who are fleeing because they have none, and this is reflected in the Olympic Games not only in the athletes from countries experiencing the horrors of war (such as Ukraine or Palestine), but also in the existence of a specific team that brings together those who have no country of origin or destination.

It is not a minor team and it is growing from Olympiad to Olympiad, which says a lot about the evolution of wars and political persecutions. The Refugee Olympic Team had 10 members at Rio 2016, grew to 26 at Tokyo 2020 and has soared in Paris, with 44 members to represent over 100 million displaced.


One of them is Cameroonian-born boxer Cindy Ngamba, 25, who moved to the UK to escape persecution for being lesbian. 

For her, and for the refugees represented by the team that transcends national flags, these Games will be about making history. Whatever happens on Thursday, when she fights Panama's Atheyna Bylon for the gold medal under 85 kg, Ngamba will have a medal - she already has at least bronze after defeating France's Davina Michel on Sunday.

 "I've had to keep smiling and carry on with life. I'm just one of millions of refugees around the world and I hope to give them motivation (...) I want to say to refugees all over the world, keep working hard, keep striving and you can achieve anything," said Ngamba. For International Olympic Comitee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, a medal for Ngamba would be particularly sweet given the ORT was founded during his tenure. "We had a little celebration at the Olympic House when we heard about her qualification," said.