From Cameroon to handcuffs to Olympic hopeful

Nothing in life has come easy for Cindy Ngamba.

Since moving to the UK aged 10, Cameroon-born boxer Ngamba, who is hoping to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics, has had to overcome obstacles at every turn, on a personal and professional level.

After 15 years in England, the country she now proudly calls home, Ngamba is still fighting to be granted a visa and UK citizenship.

Without a British passport, Ngamba cannot fight for Team GB in this summer’s Olympics.

But her dream of being at the Games still burns brightly after she won a scholarship with the IOC refugee team.

Before earning refugee status, Ngamba’s right to remain in the UK was precarious.

At 20, Ngamba was on the verge of being deported after attending what she thought was a routine signing-on process to let authorities know she was still in the country.

Ngamba was arrested, along with her brother Kennet, and sent from Manchester to a detention camp in London, for reasons she is still yet to get complete clarity on.

She was released the next day following a phone call with her uncle who lives in Paris and works for the government.

“Imagine thinking you’re just going to sign then go back to your house to go about your day and then you’re put in the back of a van with handcuffs on,” Ngamba told BBC Sport.

“I got sent to London and when I was there I spoke with loads of females. Some told me they had been there for many months and years. Some were going to be sent back to their country the next day and I’m thinking ‘am I going to be sent back next?'”

Ngamba is unable to return to Cameroon due to her sexuality – homosexuality in the country is punishable with up to five years in prison.

She has made a life in England, working her way through school and graduating from Bolton University with a degree in criminology.

Following a difficult time at school where she struggled to adapt, boxing became Ngamba’s outlet when she found Elite Boxing gym in Bolton, aged 15.

“Everything was different back at home compared to the UK so I kind of went into my shell,” Ngamba said.

“I was a big girl and I got bullied for my weight and my language, just the way I spoke with my accent. I was just very quiet and reserved.”

Ngamba had to wait two years to lace up her gloves, with the coaches limiting her involvement in the gym to just skipping and cardio. But once the middleweight was given her chance, she quickly developed a fearsome reputation.

The 25-year-old has won National Amateur titles in three separate weight classes – the first person to achieve that feat since Natasha Jonas.

GB Boxing wanted to add Ngamba to their ranks for the Olympic programme, even writing a request to the Home Office to grant her citizenship.

“The contract that I needed to sign to get on the [Olympic] programme said you had to be a British citizen,” Ngamba said.

“They couldn’t help me and they had to let me go and it was devastating for me, but I knew that I had been through worse.

“It’s not like I’m messing about here in the UK, I’m willing to work hard for it. I’ve gone through the same pathway that any British citizen kid would do.”

Ngamba’s success in the amateur ranks has led to invitations to train with some of the best in the professional game.

IBF welterweight champion Jonas, former undisputed light-welterweight champion Chantelle Cameron, undisputed super-middleweight champion Savannah Marshall and Olympic gold medallist Lauren Price are among those she has done sparring rounds with.

“These are the role models that I’ve been able to get in the ring with,” Ngamba said.

Ngamba needs to reach the semi-finals of the first world qualification tournament in Italy this week to secure a quota spot at the Olympics.

But her place in Paris is far from secure even if she reaches the last four, with the IOC refugee team only selecting 22 athletes across all sports.

“The way I see it is that all those setbacks, coming to the UK, my childhood, the paper situation and my boxing, it just makes me stronger mentally and physically,” Ngamba said.

“I believe I can achieve anything that I put my mind to because I’ve gone through worse with my paper situation.”