Paris 2024 boxing bronze medallist, Cindy Ngamba, has won the Sport Award at the 2024 Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards, powered by Jaguar.
The Bolton boxer, who trains with the GB Boxing Olympic squad in Sheffield and represented the IOC Refugee team in this year’s Games, received her award at a star-studded awards ceremony at the Roundhouse in London.
The award was presented to Cindy by fellow Olympic medallist, Dame Kelly Holmes, who won two golds at the 2004 Games in Athens.
Other winners on the night, which is the biggest LGBTQ+ event in the UK awards calendar, included: Sir Elton John, Lulu, Vanessa Williams and Baby Reindeer star, Jessica Gunning.
Ngamba received the award in recognition of her incredible achievement in becoming the first person in history to win a medal for the Refugee team at the Olympic Games and her status as an inspirational figure within the LGBTQ+ community.
The 26-year-old said: “It is an honour to have won, for myself, for the Refugee team and for the LGBTQ+ community.
“I hope that my achievement of winning an Olympic medal, despite the fact that I have overcome so much adversity in my life, can help to inspire other people and show that if you commit to something, work hard and show determination you can achieve great things.
“I would like to thank Attitude for the award and everyone that has helped me along the away, especially my family and friends, my boxing clubs coaches and all of the people at both GB Boxing and the Refugee team that have believed in me and supported me in life and in my sporting career.”
Born in Cameroon, at the age of 11, Ngamba and her brother came to the UK to live with their dad and nine half-siblings in Bolton where, aged 15, that she took up boxing.
She told Attitude magazine: “It was a hard time, and I would not wish it on my worst enemy.
“I was bullied in school because of my accent, and English was not my first language so I had to learn. I went from being an extrovert back in Cameroon to being an introvert here in the UK.
“I was shy and would keep to myself. Years later, when it was time to go to university, it was like I had a big wall slammed in my face: “You don’t have [immigration] papers: you can’t go to university.
“I had to spend about six years applying over and over again with the Home Office.
“When I got into boxing, I brought a letter with me saying that GB Boxing wanted me to represent them in the 2024 Paris Olympics, and the Home Office said no.”
Ngamba went on to realise her dream for the Refugee Team instead and has now added another award recognising her incredible achievements in the summer.
She added: “It means the world to me. It’s an honour to have won, for myself, for the Refugee Team and for the LGBTQ+ community.
“For me to go out there and to perform to my best ability on top of that was an amazing feeling. I’m just another athlete that was hungry; I was consistent and determined.
“I had my family that accept me and want me to succeed. Some people see me as a role model, saying I give them motivation or inspire them, and it touches my heart to hear that.”
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