Cameroonian boxer Cindy Ngamba, the rising star of the Refugee Olympic Team

FRANCE 24 English

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00:00She is the rising star of the Refugee Olympic Team.

00:05Cindy Gamba, 25, from Cameroon, is now guaranteed a spot on the podium.

00:11On Sunday, the young woman faced French boxer Davina Michel in the under-75 kilo quarter-finals.

00:17She was the unanimous victor, securing not only her place in the semi-finals,

00:22but also the first medal in the history of the Refugee Olympic Team.

00:28This means the world to me. I hope I can change the colour of my medal in the next fight.

00:33I want to tell the refugees around the world, keep on working hard, keep on pushing yourself,

00:39and you can accomplish anything.

00:41And yet, the boxer's destiny could have been quite different.

00:45With her family, Cindy Gamba left Cameroon at the age of 10 to settle in the north of the United Kingdom.

00:52The young lesbian can no longer return to her native country

00:55because homosexuality is punishable by up to five years in prison.

01:00As a teenager, she planned to pursue a career in football before discovering boxing at the age of 15.

01:06All I could hear was people punching each other in the bag, in the boxing ring,

01:09punching each other, shadow boxing, skipping,

01:11and them making weird sounds as they're punching each other, punching the bag.

01:17And I fell in love with it, you know, I fell in love with the sport.

01:21Over the years, she became a three-time British champion in three different weight categories.

01:27Last May, Cindy Gamba became the first boxer to join the Refugee Olympic Team.

01:32Now, under their flag, Cindy will face Panama's Athena Bailon on Thursday for a place in the final.

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