- Slug: Sports–Refugee Olympic Team, 640 words.
- 4 photos available.
By Tyler Bednar
Cronkite News
PARIS – Although boxer Cindy Ngamba grew up in Cameroon, she became a refugee in 2021 because she faced imprisonment in her home country.
Why?
Because she came out as gay.
Now, she’s a member of the Refugee Olympic Team and will go for a gold medal Thursday afternoon when she battles Panama boxer Atheyna Bylon.
Ngamba and 36 other athletes with journeys both inspiring and challenge are competing in the Paris Olympics. These are members of the Refugee Olympic Team, which is making its third appearance in the Sumer Games.
The team made its Olympics debut in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The original Refugee Team was composed of 10 athletes from all over the world. The team jumped to 29 competitors for the Tokyo Games and nearly won its first medal.
Ngamba has already made history in Paris. She defeated French boxer Davina Michel in the third quarterfinal Sunday to guarantee the Refugee Team their first Olympic medal. In boxing, any athlete who qualifies for the semifinal match clinches a medal.
“It means the world to me to be the first ever refugee to win a medal,” Ngamba said. “I want to say to all the refugees around the world … keep on working hard, keep on believing in yourself.”
Cyclist Masomah Ali Zada, who was on the team in Tokyo, has returned to the Olympics as the Refugee Olympic Team Chef de Mission. In this role, she is the spokesperson for the team and making sure the athletes’ needs are met.
“For the last two weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to spend time and meet athletes on the Refugee Olympic Team, and I have been inspired by their commitment and can say that I am proud to be Chef de Mission for this team,” Zada said. “And I am also very proud that there are 37 athletes who are representing more than 100 million displaced people at these Olympic Games.
“They represent us with grace and demonstrate what refugees can achieve if they are welcomed into their new communities and allowed the opportunity to thrive.”
Zada is originally from Afghanistan, but spent the first years of her life in Iran. Once she returned to Afghanistan, she began cycling, despite criticism from the Afghanistan government. In 2017, she continued to race, but criticism forced her and her family to seek asylum in France.
After her first stint on the Refugee Olympic Team, Ali Zada was appointed to the IOC Athletes’ Commission in 2022. The commission serves as a connection between the IOC and the athletes.
The 2024 Paris Refugee Olympic Team is represented by 15 national Olympic committees. The 37 athletes are competing in 12 different sports.
Selection onto the Refugee Olympic Team is tedious and difficult – just as it is for any other country.
“Selection is based on two main criteria, and that’s the sporting level, which we look at very closely with all the international federations and then ensuring those athletes have their refugee status verified by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR,” Olympic Refuge Foundation head Jojo Ferris said.
“There’s also consideration that needs to be given for the team itself, for the diversity and ensuring that this team represents the global situation of displacement refugees more broadly.”
Another one of these Olympics athletes is Canoer Saman Soltani, whose Olympics debut ended Wednesday in the canoe sprint quarterfinals. Soltani is originally from Iran, but she has lived in Austria for the past two years after seeking refuge.
“We want to say that when the situation looks bad and you feel that the life is (going to) end, it’s not true, you just have to keep believing in yourself and your abilities,” Soltani said. “We want to give hope to all over the world that it’s possible. You can do it if you can dream it.”
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