Cindy Ngamba wins historic first medal for Refugee Olympic Team

ISTANBUL

Cindy Ngamba won the Refugee Olympic Team's first-ever medal on Thursday when she bagged the bronze in women's boxing.

"It means the world to me to be the first-ever refugee athlete to win a medal. I hope I can change the (color of) the medal on my next fight – in fact, I will change it," Ngamba said after the bout.

"I was fighting a very tough opponent today … but I listened to my trainers and coaches, I stuck to the tactics and I stayed calm and composed," she added.

The 25-year-old became the first-ever athlete to win a medal for the IOC Refugee Olympic Team, taking the bronze in the women's boxing 75kg class after a semifinal loss to Panama's Atheyna Bylon.

Ngamba is one of 37 athletes competing in Paris as part of the refugee team. The first-ever refugee team took part in the Rio 2016 Olympics, followed by a 29-team competition at Tokyo 2020.